GIFT   OF 


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DEMOCRACY  AND 
THE  CHURCH 


DEMOCRACY  AND 
THE  CHURCH 


BY 

SAMUEL  GEORGE  SMITH,  Ph.D.  LL.D. 

HEAD   OF   DEPARTMENT  OF   SOCIOLOGY   AND   ANTHROPOLOGY, 
UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

D.   APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1912 


A*' 


COPTBIGHT,  1912,  BT 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


FOREWORD 

For  a  long  time  I  have  wondered  why  it  is  that 
many  intelligent  persons  who  accept  the  genetic  view 
of  the  development  of  life  have  no  open-mindedness 
for  the  genetic  view  of  history.  They  recognize  that 
there  are  certain  periods  in  the  history  of  life  when 
old  environments  give  way,  new  forms  of  life  appear 
showing  a  fresh  summertime,  and  sustaining  heart 
and  hope.  This  class  of  persons  may  recognize  that 
there  is  a  history  of  art,  and  if  they  do  not  glory  in 
the  pre-Raphaelite  as  Beauty's  last  word  or  accept 
the  impressionist's  school  as  the  final  despair  of  the 
creative  gods,  they  do  see  continuity  in  Art ;  they  do 
recognize  that  every  time  must  create  its  own  artistic 
forms  in  harmony  with  the  terms  and  the  conditions 
of  its  life.  Literature  in  successive  periods  may 
flower  out  in  the  great  secular  bibles;  the  works  of 
Homer,  ^Eschylus,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  Goethe.  But 
even  these  men  are  social  products  as  well  as  social 
forces,  and  literature  has  its  continuity,  its  progress 
and  its  invincible  relationships. 

In  the  domain  of  what  is  called  history  the  task 
has  not  been  so  easy.  It  is  difficult  to  harmonize  the 
influence  e>f  fne  personal  will  with  the  conclusions  of 
the  social  mind.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  that  in  the  his- 
toric development  a  certain  legitimacy  has  attached 
to  every  form  of  human  society.     Some  people  do 


ttfLinaw 


vi  FOREWORD 

know,  for  example,  that  organized  slavery  gave  the 
master  his  duty  as  well  as  his  rights,  and  so  far  was 
a  great  advance  in  the  world's  social  order,  just  as 
dueling  was  far  better  than  sneaking  assassination; 
though  slavery  and  dueling  were  both  to  pass  away. 
We  know  that  the  ancient  Greek  artists  did  not  un- 
derstand the  theory  of  perspective,  and  on  that  ac- 
count we  find  their  paintings  amusing.  But  many 
writers  treat  historical  subjects  without  any  sense  of 
perspective  and  both  themselves  and  their  readers 
often  take  the  performance  very  seriously. 

Religion  has  suffered  more  from  this  unscientific 
method  of  procedure  than  almost  any  other  depart- 
ment of  human  experience.  It  has  been  partly  be- 
cause of  the  great  intensity  of  interest  men  have 
usually  had  in  religion  and  the  consequent  intrusion 
of  the  emotional  element.  The  recent  science  of  com- 
parative religion  has  taught  us  to  be  more  respectful 
to  the  common  elements  in  various  systems,  and  to 
recognize  in  them  whatever  has  been  valuable  for 
groups  of  believers  and  worshipers.  It  is  no  longer 
thought  necessary  for  truth  to  be  original  in  order  to 
be  useful;  in  fact,  the  more  widely  a  conviction  or  a 
custom  is  shared  among  diverse  peoples  the  more 
certain  are  we  of  its  value. 

We  have  gone  somewhat  further  and  in  addition  to 
a  history  of  philosophy  some  very  respectable  efforts 
have  been  made  to  present  to  the  world  a  history  of 
theology.  Authorities  of  the  Roman  Church  have 
often  gone  so  far  as  to  provide  for  a  history  of  the- 
ology in  the  doctrine  of  the  permanence  of  the  teach- 
ing power  of  the  church.    Writers  in  various  schools 


FOREWORD  vii 

of  thought  have  been  seeking  to  appraise  and  appor- 
tion the  Hebrew,  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  elements 
in  modern  Christianity.  Some  of  these  efforts  have 
been  too  purposeful  and  not  sufficiently  naive  to  be 
really  scientific.  But  at  any  rate  the  religious  expe- 
rience of  the  race  is  being  taken  more  seriously  than 
it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
the  great  scientific  movement  of  that  period,  which 
seemed  to  many  of  the  fathers  big  with  disaster  to 
every  form  of  Christianity,  turns  out  to  find  it  neces- 
sary at  last  to  regard  the  religious  life  of  the  world 
as  a  permanent  department  of  social  science. 

One  objection  to  scientific  method  in  the  domain 
of  religion,  or  indeed  in  any  domain  where  human 
beings  have  a  vital  interest,  is  that  the  scientists  as  a 
rule  have  been  rather  a  repellent  sort  of  folk.  They 
have  seemed  to  have  no  place  for  life.  That  is  to  say 
a  living  thing  is  only  of  scientific  importance  when 
it  can  be  cut  up  and  its  organs  put  in  pigeon  holes. 
The  instrument  of  science  has  been  supposed  to  be 
the  "cold  light  of  reason,' '  though  "cold  light' ' 
could  not  really  be  an  instrument  for  anything.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  we  now  know  that  the  pioneer  of 
science  has  usually  been  the  imagination,  and  the  im- 
pulse of  science  has  been  some  human  passion.  It  is 
possible  even  that  in  time  it  may  become  interesting. 
At  all  events  there  can  be  no  social  science  worth  the 
name  that  does  not  take  into  account  the  fundamental 
social  forces,  and  those  tremendous  vitalities  in  indi- 
viduals and  in  groups,  for  which  we  may  indeed  have 
names,  but  which  have  never  yet  been  fully  de- 
scribed, and  which  up  to  date  leave  plenty  of  room 


viii  FOREWORD 

for  the  thing  which  is  vaguely  called  "The  Tran- 
scendental." The  attack  upon  Christianity  as  a  re- 
ligion and  upon  the  church  as  a  social  organization 
has  changed  very  much  of  late  years,  and  the  change 
is  partly  unconscious.  Formerly  the  enemies  used 
to  say,  the  thing  is  not  true,  but  at  present  the 
strength  of  the  attack  is,  the  thing  is  not  useful. 
With  whip  and  spur  the  frantic  friends  of  the 
church  are  urging  it  to  all  sorts  of  new  activities, 
and  the  enemies  of  the  church  are  insisting  that  the 
church  is  no  longer  available  for  important  social  ob- 
ligations. The  outside  enemies  may  be  ignored.  In 
fact  they  have  always  been  negligible,  but  the  time 
has  come  when  the  church  is  most  sorely  wounded 
in  the  house  of  her  friends,  and  her  foes  are  those 
of  her  own  household. 

This  study  is  an  effort  to  use  the  genetic  method 
in  considering  the  relation  of  the  Christian  church  to 
the  development  of  democracy.  For  the  time  we 
have  nothing  to  do  with  creed  or  sect,  with  Roman  or 
Protestant,  save  as  their  activities  bear  upon  the  for- 
tunes of  democratic  institutions.  The  result  of  the 
study  convinces  the  writer  that  Christianity  has  ful- 
filled a  unique  social  function  of  the  utmost  value  as 
a  by-product  of  its  religious  life,  and  the  attempt  is 
here  made  to  sketch  that  important  function. 

The  ideas  of  democracy  are  quite  evidently  in  the 
world.  It  is  important  to  know  at  what  time  and  in 
what  person  the  latent  life  of  the  people  found  an 
articulate  voice.  It  seems  evident  that  that  time  was 
the  first  century  of  our  era,  and  the  voice  was  that 
of  Jesus.    It  may  be  found  that  the  type  of  democ- 


FOREWORD  ix 

racy  which  He  introduced  into  the  world  has  not  yet 
clothed  itself  with  proper  institutions,  but  it  would 
seem  that  the  teaching  of  Jesus  upon  this  subject  is 
still  the  noblest  philosophy  which  the  race  has  heard. 

The  history  of  the  church  has  been  an  effort,  more 
or  less  successful,  to  embody  both  the  religious  and 
the  social  teachings  of  Jesus  in  human  experience. 
There  are  at  least  some  series  of  events  which  indi- 
cate the  pathway  of  democracy.  The  influence  of 
primitive  Christianity  culminating  in  Constantine 
profoundly  affected  his  legislation.  There  can  be  no 
question  that  primitive  Christianity  humanized  the 
world. 

It  is  not  quite  true  to  say  that  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  Roman  empire  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  arose ; 
for  the  popes  have  always  had  emperors  as  their  mas- 
ters, their  servants  or  their  antagonists.  The  strug- 
gles of  the  church  and  the  empire  were  significant 
through  several  centuries.  The  result  of  the  strug- 
gles has  been  without  question  to  the  advantage  of 
the  common  people. 

Christianity  has  always  been  larger  than  the 
church.  The  Roman  church,  with  a  great  flexibility, 
has  frequently  found  room  for  new  forms  of  life. 
This  is  shown  in  the  history  of  the  monastic  orders, 
and  conspicuously  in  her  hospitality  to  St.  Francis 
d'Assisi,  as  well  as  in  the  motherhood  of  the  Univer- 
sities. When  she  has  failed  to  find  room  for  such 
turbulent  souls  as  Luther  and  Calvin,  these  have  gone 
their  way  carrying  the  jewels  of  Egypt  with  them, 
and  seeking  a  church  life  in  the  promised  land  of 
new  Christian  organizations.    The  reformers  have  not 


x  FOREWORD 

always  been  fortunate  in  their  doctrine  or  method, 
but  it  is  impossible  for  them  at  least  to  do  anything 
but  promote  democratic  institutions. 

Modern  Christianity  has  been  the  mother  of  the 
great  social  movements  of  our  times.  Stupid  critics 
have  railed  against  the  church  because  it  did  not  al- 
ways move  at  once  as  one  mass  in  favor  of  every 
great  and  good  cause.  It  were  foolishness  to  expect 
it.  We  have  prophets  and  reformers  simply  because 
masses  of  men  do  not  move  easily,  and  love  their  tra- 
ditions. The  glory  of  the  church  is  not  that  she  was 
always  encamped  in  full  force  on  every  battle  line 
but  rather  that  she  gave  birth  to  the  new  leaders,  fur- 
nished them  their  ideas,  developed  for  them  their 
character,  provided  their  inspiration,  and  was  the 
recruiting  ground  for  their  battalions. 

In  spite  of  all  that  Jesus  taught,  and  all  that  the 
church  has  done,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the 
democracy  of  the  present  understands  its  weaknesses 
or  can  foresee  its  defeats.  Its  weakness  is  the  lack  of 
intelligence  and  virtue.  Its  defeats  are  to  be  nu- 
merous, and  its  final  victory  will  only  come  when  the 
new  order  of  men  predicted  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
take  the  actual  leadership  of  human  affairs,  and  so 
shape  human  conduct  that  what  the  best  men  now 
largely  dream  about  will  be  actually  recognized  as  a 
possible  goal  in  the  domain  of  practical  statesman- 
ship. 

The  occasion  for  this  study  was  an  invitation  to 
deliver  a  course  of  lectures  upon  "  Applied  Chris- 
tianity,'  '  upon  the  Enoch  Pond  foundation  at  the 
Bangor  Theological  Seminary.    It  soon  seemed  to  me 


FOREWORD  xi 

that  all  real  Christianity  is  in  its  very  nature  "ap- 
plied," and  I  determined  to  attempt  to  show  that 
there  is  not  a  special  kind  of  Christian  activity  to  be 
encouraged  but  that  if  essential  Christianity  has  the 
right  of  way  it  will  create  every  kind  of  useful  so- 
cial activity.  Though  this  volume  was  suggested  by 
the  course  of  lectures  it  differs  from  them  both  in 
form  and  extent,  as  they  were  spoken  addresses  and 
five  in  number. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Jesus  and  Democracy    . 

II.  Influence  of  Primitive  Christianity 

III.  Papacy  and  Liberty 

IV.  Social  Revival  in  Italy 
V.  Social  Upheavals  in  England      . 

VI.  Luther  and  Liberty 

VII.  Social  Influence  of  the  Reformation 

VIII.  Democracy  and  Education     . 

IX.  Social  Spirit  of  Modern  Christianity 

X.  The  Democracy  of  Tomorrow 

Index 


PAGE 

1 

31 
62 
101 
.133 
165 
207 
244 
272 
309 
347 


A  CONFESSION   OF  FAITH 

"The  faith  of  Christ  makes  fraternal,  individuals 
and  nations,  elevates  the  multitude,  with  education, 
personal  and  collective ;  sanctifies  labor,  stirs  the  con- 
science with  the  excellence  of  spirit  above  matter, 
reinforces  with  eternal  sanctions  the  duties  which 
each  has  toward  his  fellows,  induces  abnegation  and 
sacrifices  and  creates  an  unconquerable  energy  for 
social  amelioration  ....  In  brief  all  present 
democracy  showing  the  Cross  says :  '  In  this  sign  you 
conquer.'  "  Mons.  Giambattista  Savarese,  "La  Chiesa 
e  la  Democrazia. ' ' 

"The  strongest  and  most  durable  powers  of  the 
earth  are  not  those  that  come  from  an  electoral  urn 
(a  polling  booth)  but  from  an  election  imaginary 
and  mystical.' '  Tarde,  "Les  Transformations  du 
Pouvoir,"  p.  45. 

"Christianity  by  her  bond  of  unity,  her  moral  tie, 
by  softening  slavery  into  serfdom,  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  modern  civilization."  Lecky,  "Rational- 
ism," Vol.  ii,  p.  32. 

"A  humanity  ten  times  stronger  than  ours  would 
be  infinitely  more  religious" — such  men  would  "see 
the  baseness  of  all  that  is  not  truth  and  goodness 
and  beauty."    E.  Renan,  "The  Apostles,"  p.  136. 

"The  pagan  world  laboured  under  a  triple  curse, 
the  curse  of  corruption,  the  curse  of  cruelty,  the 
curse  of  slavery. ' '  Farrar,  ' '  The  Witness  of  History 
to  Christ,"  p.  173. 

xv 


Democracy  and  The  Church 

CHAPTER  I 

JESUS  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  early  history  of  the  race  depends  upon 
physical  environment  and  primary  economic 
conditions.  Savage  men  divided  into  types  de- 
pending upon  opportunities  which  involved 
neither  travel  nor  commerce.  For  the  anxious 
questions,  what  shall  we  eat  and  what  shall  we 
drink,  could  not  be  put  aside.  The  quality  of 
the  body  was  fixed  by  the  nature  of  the  food,  as 
the  activities  and  interests  reflected  resources 
and  opportunities.  These  things  have  to  do 
with  the  development  of  the  savage  man  and 
the  beginnings  of  the  race.  The  dawn  of  civili- 
zation reveals  quite  other  forces  at  work.  For 
the  horde  becomes  a  tribe,  and  the  tribe  a  na- 
tion by  the  power  of  those  ideas  which  inspire, 
and  those  ever-widening  desires  which  drive 
to  corresponding  action.     It  is  in  these  ideas 

2  1 


DEMOCRACY-.  AND    THE    CHURCH 

and  desires  that  we  discover  the  interpretation 
of  life.  Those  men  are  significant  who  have  in- 
carnated and  disclosed  the  most  valuable  social 
ideas;  and  those  movements  must  be  studied 
which  have  quickened  the  passions,  and  have 
resulted  in  new  or  more  complex  activities. 

Eeligion  is  the  most  efficient  of  all  the  factors 
in  human  history,  because  it  furnishes  at  once 
essential  ideas,  inspires  great  motives,  controls 
economic  conditions,  and  creates  great  men. 
The  makers  of  history  are  not  those  who  fight 
its  battles,  who  found  its  empires,  who  write 
its  constitutions,  or  who  frame  its  laws.  St. 
Louis  influenced  France  more  than  Louis  XIV. 
The  power  of  Stephen  Langton  was  not  in  the 
See  of  Canterbury,  but  in  his  essential  religious 
nature.  Hildebrand  was  greater  as  the  brain 
and  heart  of  the  church  than  he  was  as  Gregory 
VII.  So  Catherine  of  Siena,  without  a  throne, 
was  more  important  than  any  woman  of  Italy. 
Joan  of  Arc  has  remained  a  human  document 
of  invincible  interest,  not  because  she  conquered 
the  English  in  battle,  nor  yet  because  she  was 
burned  as  a  martyr,  but  because  her  great  re- 
ligious personality  made  men  believe  that  the 
finite  world  was  the  theater  of  divine  affairs. 

Gautama,  resigning  his  throne,  was  mightier 
than  any  monarch  in  all  the  Asian   empires. 

2 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

Confucius  has  compelled  every  dynasty  of 
China  since  his  time,  and  the  influence  of  Socra- 
tes upon  the  life  and  religion  of  the  world,  and 
not  upon  its  speculative  thought,  is  his  final  in- 
terpretation. Elsewhere 1  I  have  shown  re- 
ligion as  a  primary  experience.  While  other 
religions  have  lifted  men  out  of  animalism,  fur- 
nished them  noble  thoughts,  and  afterward 
great  duties,  have  made  the  temple  the  dwell- 
ing-place of  every  form  of  beauty,  and  often 
have  established  national  unity,  it  has  remained 
for  Christianity  to  become  the  greatest  and 
most  universal  force  the  world  has  ever  known. 

The  object  of  this  study  is  to  exhibit  the  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  upon  the  making  of  de- 
mocracy. The  teaching  of  Jesus  discloses  a 
unique  foundation  for  the  rights  of  men;  and 
the  impulse  of  Christianity,  as  yet  unspent,  is 
on  its  way  toward  the  formation  on  earth  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  Let  others  debate  about 
forms  of  theology,  or  the  terms  of  church  or- 
ganization, let  us  seek  to  see  the  life  and  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  as  the  creative  and  uplifting  force 
in  the  social  life  of  the  world  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years. 

All  debates  about  the  nature  of  the  final  so- 
cial order  are  resolved  by  a  discovery  of  the 

1 ' '  Religion  in  the  Making. ' ' 

3 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

true  nature  of  democracy.  The  foes  of  democ- 
racy have  always  feared  the  people,  and  in  this 
the  foes  of  democracy  have  shown  their  wisdom. 
The  people,  ignorant,  selfish,  inefficient,  if 
placed  in  power,  drive  on  to  the  wreck  of  the 
world.  It  was  not  the  actual  man,  but  it  was 
the  possible  man,  who  was  always  in  the  mind 
of  Jesus.  He  proposed  to  reorganize  society,  by 
reorganizing  man.  The  failure  of  the  actual 
man  is  seen  in  the  doom  of  every  form  of  demo- 
cratic government  in  history.  The  citizenship, 
even  when  limited  to  the  upper  classes,  has  soon 
been  involved  in  ruin.  Yet,  in  spite  of  failures 
of  the  past,  the  heart  of  the  world  claims 
democracy  as  its  own,  and  history  hastens  on 
toward  the  goal  promised  in  the  birth  of  the 
Jewish  child,  whose  mother  named  him  Jesus. 
The  regeneration  of  society,  called  by  the  name 
of  democracy,  means  not  simply  that  all  the 
people  shall  share  in  political  power,  but  that 
all  the  people  shall  share  in  the  good  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  fullness  of  life.  It  demands 
the  possibility  of  an  adequate  career  for  every 
man,  woman,  and  child.  It  demands  that  the 
thing  we  vaguely  call  society  adjust  itself  to 
the  demands  and  the  duties  involved  in  this 
conception. 
It  is  only  in  the  light  of  recent  doctrines  of 
4 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

human  development  there  can  be  seen  in  a  new 
perspective  the  real  values  of  history.  Time 
was  when  history  consisted  of  the  story  of  wars 
and  heroes.  Then  it  came  to  mean  the  struc- 
ture of  governments  and  the  career  of  nations. 
A  later  school  busied  itself  with  descriptions 
of  the  social  and  industrial  life  of  various 
peoples. 

The  time  has  come  to  discover  that  history 
has  had  one  increasing  purpose.  Social  groups 
have  conquered  the  limitations  of  physical  en- 
vironment. Eager  hand  and  conquering  brain 
have  made  an  economic  success  faster  than  any 
promise  contained  in  national  resources.  The 
whole  range  of  history  has  two  interpretations. 
In  the  first  is  the  ever-widening  conquest  of 
the  spiritual,  or,  if  you  prefer  the  term,  of  the 
intellectual  man,  over  material  facts  and  appar- 
ent limitations,  summing  these  up  not  alone  in 
the  conquest  of  the  earth  he  knew,  but  in  the 
discovery  of  a  richer  world  than  his  fathers 
ever  dreamed. 

The  second  fact  is  the  ever-widening  circle  of 
men  who  participate  in  all  the  richness  of  hu- 
man life.  In  social  and  economic  affairs  even 
more  than  in  politics  the  tendency  has  been  for 
despotism  to  yield  to  oligarchy,  for  that  to  be 
succeeded  by  aristocracy,  and  for  the  democ- 

5 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

racy,  in  some  form  or  other,  finally  to  emerge. 
In  this  reading  of  history,  events  once  ignored 
take  on  new  meaning,  and  the  leaven  in  a  meas- 
ure of  meal  becomes  the  source  of  life  and  the 
means  of  organization.  In  the  rise  and  fall  of 
empires,  the  rebalancing  of  human  affairs,  but 
especially  in  the  reshaping  of  human  authority, 
society  manifests  itself  as  a  living  thing.  In 
the  changes  of  the  recent  centuries,  Christianity 
has  been  an  inexhaustible  dynamic.  Only  in  our 
generation  are  the  making  of  history  and  the 
methods  of  its  progress  becoming  evident. 
Jesus  is  the  maker  of  the  modern  world.  In 
saying  that,  it  is  necessary  to  assume  all  the 
burden  of  Christian  history. 

The  making  of  monstrous  creeds,  the  organi- 
zation of  tyrannical  churches,  the  ambitions  of 
priests  and  prelates,  and  the  thousand-fold 
struggle  throughout  all  the  generations  have 
solemnly  predicted  one  thing  and  one  thing 
only — the  developed  man  in  a  free  human  so- 
ciety where  he  may  find  opportunity  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  all  his  gifts. 

The  slowness  of  the  movement  toward  this 
great  end  is  an  offence,  but  it  has  been  due  to 
the  stupendous  nature  of  the  task,  as  well  as  to 
the  loftiness  of  the  purpose  revealed  in  aims  of 
the  world's  Master.     It  is  comparatively  easy 

6 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

to  find  a  saint,  for  solitary  examples  belonged 
to  all  religions  and  to  all  ages,  but  it  is  an  in- 
finite task  to  organize  sainthood  and  to  make  it 
the  controlling  fact  of  a  cosmic  civilization. 
Aristotle  taught  that  noble  living  is  the  pur- 
pose of  the  state,  but  he  meant  a  life  com- 
plete in  action  and  in  comfort.  Jesus  sought  to 
develop  not  a  state  but  men,  leaving  their  ca- 
reer to  themselves.  These  noble  men  were  sure 
to  make  freedom  and  fullness  of  life  the  final 
goal  of  the  race.  The  wealth  and  ambition  of 
priests  and  rulers,  the  conflict  of  church  and 
empire,  and  even  the  great  popular  disturb- 
ances were  all  parts  of  the  process.  Carlyle 
says  that  the  French  revolution  was  "  truth 
clad  in  hell-fire/ '  but  Brunetiere  declares  that 
it  was  essentially  religious.  It  is  impossible  to 
present  the  whole  range,  or  to  even  fully  set 
forth  the  principal  movements  of  modern  his- 
tory, but  enough  can  be  presented  to  show  the 
nature  of  the  process. 

It  is  naturally  essential  in  the  beginning  of 
the  study  to  insist  upon  a  fact  to  which  all  men 
will  assent,  and  that  is  the  presence  to-day  in 
the  world  of  ideals  of  democracy.  These  ideals 
of  democracy,  however,  would  remain  unre- 
vealed  as  practical  forces  had  they  not  already 
been  partially  embodied  in  existing  institutions. 

7 


7- 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  voices  of  democracy  come  from  various 
camps,  sometimes  strident,  to  many  minds  re- 
pellent, but  they  are  here.  In  some  period  and 
in  some  living  voice  the  ideals  of  democracy 
first  appeared  among  men.  It  is  important  to 
our  purpose  to  show  that  the  ideals  of  modern 
democracy  owe  their  origin  to  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, and  their  permanence  in  the  world  to  the 
Christian  church.  The  conclusion  will  follow 
that  when  the  church  of  Jesus  accepts  the  same 
democracy  as  its  founder  it  will  reach  its  final 
place  of  power  and  render  its  perfect  service 
to  the  social  order. 

It  is  necessary  to  show  that  before  Jesus  the 
ideals  of  democracy  did  not  exist  and  that  since 
His  life  and  teaching  the  world  has  not  been 
able  to  be  rid  of  them.  Credit  will  be  given  to 
the  Hebrew  ancestry  of  Jesus  in  a  later  para- 
graph. We  have  to  do  now  with  the  world  out- 
side of  Hebrew  life.  Hegel,1  in  his  ' '  Philosophy 
of  History, ' '  speaks  of  the  beautiful,  free  Greek 
Spirit,  and  would  have  us  understand  that  the 
beginning  of  the  realization  of  the  ideal  was 
essentially  Hellenic. 

In  Athens,  if  anywhere,  we  may  look  for  a  so- 
cial program  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  world.  For- 
tunately we  have  there  the  man,  Plato,  and  the 

1  Hegel's  " Philosophy  of  History/ ■  p.  167. 
8 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

book,  "The  Kepublic."  Emerson  says  that  of 
Plato  only  it  may  be  said,  "burn  the  libraries 
for  their  value  is  in  this  book."  "Out  of  Plato 
come  all  things  which  are  still  written  and  de- 
bated among  men  of  thought.' '  "Plato  is 
Philosophy  and  Philosophy  at  once  the  glory 
and  the  shame  of  mankind. ' ' 1 

James  Martineau  thinks  that  Plato  in  his 
"Eepublic"  was  writing  in  such  deep  earnest 
that  he  may  be  regarded  as  a  moralist  and 
prophet.2 

In  this  view  the  "Eepublic"  is  no  dream,  but 
was  meant  by  its  author  as  a  real  standard  of 
which  all  actual  social  constitutions  are  only 
shadows  and  distortions.  It  must  be  confessed 
that,  in  all  the  intellectual  endeavor  of  the  an- 
cient world,  nothing  stands  out  as  a  distinct 
scheme  for  the  reconstruction  of  society  at  all 
comparable  to  the  work  of  Plato.  It  is  worth 
while  to  consider  briefly  the  structure  of  his 
ideal  of  society.  As  the  universe  is  composed 
of  Intellect,  Soul  and  Matter,  so  man  is  com- 
posed of  Eeason,  Impulse  and  Sensation.  The 
Commonwealth,  therefore,  must  be  constituted 
in  harmony  with  these  primary  facts.  At  the 
head  of  the  city  are  the  golden  guardians,  the 

1 ' ' Kepresentative  Men,"  pp.  41  and  42. 
2 " Types  of  Ethical  Theory/'  p.  24. 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

incarnation  of  thought.  The  second  caste  is 
composed  of  the  silver  warriors,  who  represent 
courage,  while  the  producers,  made  of  brass, 
carry  on  the  material  industries. 

Patriotism  is  really  represented  in  the 
guardians,  and  since  these  public  philosophers 
are  to  rule  the  state,  they  must  be  set  free  from 
personal  interest.  Personal  interest  depends 
upon  family  ties  and  private  property.  Hence, 
in  the  true  state,  the  ruling  class  must  have  a 
community  of  goods  and  must  be  composed  of 
one  common  family,  including  all  the  men  and 
women  composing  this  caste.  The  complete 
ritual  of  life,  from  the  relation  of  the  sexes 
through  the  care  and  training  of  children,  as 
well  as  the  smallest  details,  is  to  be  controlled 
by  the  state.  The  state  will  be  successful  in 
proportion  as  philosophers  are  kings  and  kings 
become  philosophers.  The  industrial  class  have 
the  same  relations  to  the  state  that  matter  has 
to  reality.  Matter  has  no  real  existence,  but  is 
the  negative  stuff  through  which  the  ideal  re- 
veals itself,  and  the  industrial  classes  are  only 
significant  for  their  assistance  in  furnishing  the 
necessaries  of  life  to  warriors  and  rulers.  The 
warriors  who  represent  human  desire  are  to  be 
amply  rewarded  by  every  gratification.  He 
pleads  for  some  mitigation  for  the  horrors  of 

10 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

war  when  the  struggle  is  between  the  Greeks. 
The  barbarians  have  no  claims.  Those  con- 
quered in  battle  are  to  be  slaves  as  happened 
in  all  the  history  of  the  world  before  his 
time. 

The  basic  political  doctrine  was :  The  value  of 
the  individual  is  only  realized  in  the  complete- 
ness of  the  state,  and  the  state  rather  than  the 
individual  is  the  object  of  contemplation. 
Doubtless  were  Plato  interrogated  upon  the 
point,  he  would  say  that  the  good  of  the  indi- 
vidual could  only  be  found  through  the  perfect 
state.  The  value  of  this  dialogue  is  so  great, 
according  to  Walter  Pater,1  that  "The  towers 
of  Plato's  Eepublic  blend  with  those  of  the 
City  of  God  of  Augustine.,,  There  is  this  eter- 
nal difference,  that  the  "Bepublic"  rises  out  of 
the  earth,  but  the  "City  of  God''  comes  down 
out  of  heaven. 

The  theory  grew  out  of  the  evils  of  his  own 
time.  He  saw  already  the  corroding  force  de- 
stroying the  foundations  of  the  social  life  about 
him.  The  greatest  of  all  evils  was  the  domi- 
nance of  personal  ambition.  The  greatest  of  all 
dangers  was  the  strong  man.  He  proposed  a 
mechanical  method  of  organization  by  which 
selfishness  should  be  eliminated  at  least  from 

111  Plato  and  Platoniam/ '  Pater,  p.  218. 
11 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  character  of  the  guardians.  I  venture  to 
differ  from  Dr.  Martineau  as  to  the  deep  ear- 
nestness of  the  proposals  in  the  book.  It  seems 
to  me  a  speculative  political  romance,  which 
was  largely  modified  in  the  " Laws"  written  aft- 
erward. It  was  certainly  a  paper  constitution 
which  no  people  ever  tried  to  put  in  operation. 
These  proposals  are  now  as  revolting  to  the 
political  sense  of  the  world  as  they  have  always 
been  revolting  to  the  Christian  conscience. 
The  community  of  wives,  the  destruction  of 
the  family,  the  doubtful  expedient  of  abolish- 
ing private  property,  to  say  nothing  of  state 
control  of  religion  and  literature,  the  official 
writing  of  myths  and  of  history,  as  well  as  the 
use  of  lying  by  the  guardians  as  a  fine  art, 
when  political  expediency  required  it,  are  suf- 
ficient illustrations  to  show  the  failure  of 
the  "Bepublic"  as  a  working  program.  What- 
ever it  was,  it  was  written  for  the  Greeks 
and  not  for  the  world.  Plato  had  in  his 
mind  the  Eepublic  of  Attica,  never  exceed- 
ing five  hundred  thousand  population,  and  of 
these  only  thirty  thousand  were  citizens.  The 
culture,  beauty  and  glory  of  Greece  rested 
upon  the  foundation  of  slavery.  The  political 
control  of  Athens  was  either  an  oligarchy  or  a 
plutocracy,  sometimes  both.    Plato  wished  to 

12 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

substitute  an  aristocracy  of  intellect.  To  com- 
pare Plato  with  Jesus  first  of  all  comes  the 
matter  of  vision.  Plato  thought  of  a  perfect 
city.  Jesus  had  in  mind  a  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  horizon  of  Plato  was  bounded  by  the  moun- 
tains and  the  seas  visible  from  the  Acropolis. 
Jesus  had  a  world  vision  and  proposed  the  con- 
quest of  the  nations.  His  vision  was  so  intense 
that  He  saw  his  Kingdom  already  at  hand.  Into 
this  Kingdom  He  bade  all  men  enter.  He  be- 
lieved it  a  practical  program  for  the  movement 
of  human  history  in  all  the  ages.  No  doubt  the 
unapproachable  philosophy  of  Plato  has  been 
material  for  thinking  on  the  part  of  great  men 
in  all  the  great  ages,  but  the  program  of  Jesus 
has  been  the  object  of  passionate  struggle  on 
the  part  of  good  men  in  all  times.  Plato  pro- 
posed a  rulership  of  wise  men.  Jesus  pro- 
posed an  aristocracy  of  goodness,  open  to  every 
man,  however  humble,  who  was  willing  to  obey 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom.  For  Plato's  principle 
of  the  political  supremacy  of  mind,  Jesus  pro- 
posed the  enthronement  of  character.  It  may 
be  doubted  if  Plato  meant  anything  more  than 
to  rebuke  local  conditions  in  Athens.1  Grote,2 
in  his  " History  of  Greece,' '  quotes  the  advice 

1  Plato,  Epistol  viii,  p.  356. 

2Grote,  " History  of  Greece,' '  Vol.  ii,  p.  131. 

13 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

given  to  the  contending  parties  at  Syracuse, 
whom  he  advised  to  establish  a  triple,  coordi- 
nate kingship,  including  the  presidency  of  re- 
ligious ceremonies  and  permanently  belonging 
to  the  three  families  by  hereditary  transmis- 
sion. This  was  a  counsel  of  practical  politics 
in  order  to  preserve  the  Greek  influence  in 
Sicily. 

Variations  from  theory  are  always  allowed 
to  practical  men  of  affairs  and  sometimes,  when 
philosophers  or  theologians  give  advice,  it  is 
too  much  to  ask  consistency.  It  is  no  reflection 
upon  Plato,  the  supreme  thinker,  to  show  that 
he  did  not  really  mean  his  theory  to  be  taken 
too  seriously.  Indeed,  in  his  later  study  of 
"The  Laws,"  he  abandons  many  of  the  posi- 
tions of  1 *  The  Eepublic. '  '  No  doubt  as  he  grew 
older  he  had  become  what  the  world  calls  more 
practical.  All  this  was  wholly  foreign  to  the 
method  of  the  Man  of  Galilee.  In  His  teaching, 
instead  of  veiled  irony,  there  were  the  frank- 
ness of  love  and  a  faith  in  the  practical  effi- 
ciency of  His  teaching  never  equaled  among 
men.  He  offered  rest  to  the  souls  of  all  who 
labor,  and  are  heavy  laden. 

If  the  climax  of  philosophy  cannot  come  into 
serious  consideration,  how  is  it  with  effective 
political  organization?    When  Jesus  came,  the 

14 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

early  democracy  of  the  Roman  people,  such  as 
it  was,  had  been  buried  beneath  the  foundations 
of  the  empire.  The  early  Romans  had  possessed 
certain  important  virtues.  Their  self-reliance, 
their  stoicism  and  their  courage  had  succeeded 
among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  They  had 
developed  legislation  much  of  which  has  come 
down  to  modern  times,  and  they  discovered  an 
unrivaled  genius  for  organization,  covering  the 
great  matters  of  material  concern,  and  could 
afford  to  encourage  also  a  careless  catholicity 
in  social  manners  and  customs.  But  the  age  of 
Augustine,  though  it  found  the  empire  vast, 
peaceful  and  wealthy,  offered  abundant  evi- 
dence that  the  time  had  come  when  it  was  im- 
possible to  repeat  the  nation's  successes  and 
equally  impossible  to  preserve  its  inheritance. 
That  the  empire  was  already  doomed  was  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  case.  The  virtues  which 
had  created  the  successes  were  rooted  in  the 
simplicity  of  a  lost  life.  Wealth  and  Power 
had  poisoned  them.  It  is  significant  that  the 
ideals  of  the  people  were  represented  by  stories 
of  secular  heroes.  Saints  had  no  vital  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  Rome  for  the  simple 
reason  that  its  religion  was  not  ethical.  The 
classical  gods  were  safer  when  dethroned,  and 
could  be  better  trusted  dead  than  alive.    It  was 

15 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

not  the  failure  of  organization,  as  some  have 
supposed,  or  because  imperial  rule  was  too 
great  for  any  municipality.  It  failed  through 
the  decayed  foundations  of  its  social  life.  The 
Latin  language,  if  not  the  most  perfect,  was 
certainly  the  most  useful  which  had  been  pro- 
duced, and  became  the  organ  of  intercourse  be- 
tween the  nations  of  Europe  generations  after 
the  empire  was  destroyed.  But  strangers  used 
the  language  for  greater  messages  to  men  than 
were  found  in  the  vast  contributions  of  the 
Eomans. 

The  Stoic  philosophy  borrowed  from  the 
Greeks  was  more  at  home  among  this  people 
than  among  the  Athenians,  and  it  is  significant 
that  the  Stoics  furnish  examples  of  the  very 
best  character  that  Eome  has  to  offer.  But 
Stoicism  was  only  a  gospel  of  life  for  those 
who  were  strong.  It  offered  no  guidance  for 
those  who  were  weak.  It  was,  therefore,  a 
gospel  for  the  few,  and  philosophy  could  not 
save  Eome. 

Oriental  religions  were  generously  admitted 
to  the  hospitality  of  the  Pantheon,  and  many 
strange  altars  were  erected  not  alone  in  the 
cosmopolitan  city,  but  in  various  parts  of  Italy. 
These  fresh  religious  ceremonies  furnished  ex- 
citement to  the  populace,  but  added  no  light  for 

16 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

the  great  problems  of  life  and  religion.  There 
swept  over  the  empire  universal  skepticism. 

It  is  very  suggestive  and  not  without  parallel 
in  other  historic  places  that,  while  these  Ro- 
mans were  building  new  temples  and  erecting 
fresh  altars,  the  vital  faith  in  both  gods  and 
men  was  actually  lost.  The  nation  was  already 
doomed,  and  its  downfall  was  foretold.  When 
Roman  Law,  legions,  cities,  industries  and 
wealth  had  failed,  and  there  came  the  slow 
breaking  up  of  the  strongest-formed  political 
organization  the  world  had  ever  known,  almost 
unseen  a  new  society,  founded  upon  the  death 
of  a  Jew,  sailed  out  upon  the  dark  waters.  It 
was  a  small  and  feeble  craft,  but  it  held  in  its 
cargo  the  promise  of  immortality,  because  it 
had  those  ideas  which  can  illuminate,  those  mo- 
tives which  can  inspire,  and  those  objects  which 
can  exalt  the  race. 

The  roots  of  modern  democracy  are  not  found 
in  either  Greece  or  Rome.  What  Athens  could 
not  do  with  its  Pericles  and  its  Plato,  Rome 
did  not  offer  under  its  Caesar  and  its  Marcus 
Aurelius.  The  beginnings  of  democracy  are 
found  in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures.  Deu- 
teronomy was  the  great  law  book  of  ancient 
democracy,  and  the  prophets  furnished  its  best 
applications.  Jesus  was  the  direct  successor 
3  17 


DEMOCRACY    AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  They  had  sternly  re- 
buked social  sins,  but  as  His  personality  was 
more  lofty  than  that  of  any  prophet,  so  His 
brief  career  was  the  most  revolutionary  in 
history. 

He  did  not  rival  the  philosophers  in  intellect, 
nor  the  statesmen  in  organizing  power.  He 
furnished  no  philosophy  of  religion,  nor  did  He 
even  write  the  constitution  of  a  church.  To  say 
nothing  of  the  Greeks,  Isaiah  had  surpassed 
Him  in  sustained  imagination,  in  literary 
grandeur,  and  in  overflowing  optimism.  Even 
his  disciple,  Paul,  when  he  spoke  on  the  Areo- 
pagus to  the  successors  of  Plato,  of  which  we 
have  only  a  brief  account  in  The  Acts,  furnishes 
more  satisfaction  to  the  intellect  than  anything 
found  in  the  gospels.  But  Jesus  moved  among 
men  as  no  other  teacher  ever  had  done,  and  pro- 
claimed Himself  as  having  found  union  with 
the  divine.  On  the  religious  side  He  offered 
neither  philosophy  nor  theory,  but  a  disclosure 
of  the  secret  of  living  with  God.  Before  His 
time  men  had  been  taught  to  love  the  Lord 
their  God,  and,  before  Him,  God  had  been  called 
the  Father  of  men.  It  was  left  to  Jesus  not 
only  to  reveal  the  doctrine  in  terms  of  human 
passion,  but  to  exhibit  a  life  perpetually  en- 
sphered with  the  divine.     Without  this  living 

18 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

revelation  of  an  ever-present,  ever-loving  Fa- 
ther, neither  Cross  nor  Eesurrection  could  have 
become  final  facts  in  human  history.  For  the 
creation  of  new  institutions  of  any  kind  new 
sources  of  life  are  required.  The  democracy  of 
Jesus  began  in  His  own  unique  exaltation.  In 
His  personality  He  transfigured  the  peasant, 
not  once  on  a  starlit  mountain,  but  on  every 
highway  of  life  over  which  He  walked. 

As  His  religion  freshly  interpreted,  "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,"  so  His  ethics 
made  a  new  formula  of  the  words,  ' '  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  It  was  a  con- 
tribution to  the  wealth  of  the  world,  when,  in 
the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan,  he  broke  down 
the  barriers  of  prejudice,  and  gave  the  word 
neighbor  a  universal  interpretation.  The  early 
history  of  religions  shows  no  perfect  identifica- 
tion with  morality.  Indeed,  from  the  historic 
point  of  view,  the  relation  of  morality  and  re- 
ligion is  comparatively  recent  in  human  history. 
By  many  a  hard-fought  battle  the  Hebrew 
prophets  had  won  for  the  world  a  faith  in  the 
Holiness  of  God  and  the  corresponding  duty  of 
righteousness  among  men.  But  it  worked  out 
among  the  Hebrews  as  morality  of  precept  and 
observance.  It  was  reserved  for  Jesus  to  de- 
velop the  morality  of  motive,  the  guidance  of 

19 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE    CHURCH 

principles  and  to  place  the  ethical  life  of  the 
race  upon  universal  foundations.  The  duties 
of  life  He  would  have  us  understand  are  larger 
than  any  list  of  precepts.  They  are  also  more 
complete  than  any  mechanical  interpretation  of 
any  one  of  His  own  parables.  The  duties  of 
life  are  measured  not  alone  by  the  necessities 
of  the  needy,  but  by  the  length  and  breadth,  the 
height  and  depth  of  possible  human  develop- 
ment. In  every  individual  Jesus  saw,  not  the 
man  that  was,  but  the  man  who  might  be,  and, 
therefore,  should  be.  His  sharp  conflict  with 
the  Pharisees  was  not  accident.  He  denied  the 
religious  value  of  merely  external  forms  of  wor- 
ship. It  is  of  no  use  to  merely  multiply  pray- 
ers or  to  frequent  the  temple.  It  is  only  when 
the  soul  bows  down  and  the  man  gives  his  in- 
ner allegiance  that  the  forms  of  religion  have 
any  value.  Neither  on  this  mountain  nor  yet 
at  Jerusalem  are  men  to  worship  God.  Have 
done  with  formulas ;  the  only  worship  is  that  of 
the  spirit,  and  the  test  cf  it  is  its  sincerity.  If 
men  cannot  save  themselves  by  ritual  of  wor- 
ship, still  less  can  they  by  any  ritual  of  con- 
duct. The  Ten  Commandments  and  all  their 
precepts  fail  at  last.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  murder  or  lust  unless  they  exist  in  the  heart. 
This  interpretation  of  conduct  shows  the  cop- 

20 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

pers  of  the  widow  larger  in  God's  eye  than  the 
gifts  of  the  millionaire.  It  is  a  new  scheme  of 
values  intended  to  humble  both  the  rich  and  the 
strong. 

His  great  ethical  interpretation  of  life  finds 
one  of  its  deepest  secrets  in  His  constant  faith 
in  the  value  of  the  human  soul.  In  distinct  con- 
trast to  every  form  of  theological  or  scientific 
fatalism,  Jesus  appealed  to  the  essential 
strength  of  the  individual.  For  Him  all  men 
were  God-like.  In  human  nature  was  nothing 
finally  or  permanently  unclean.  As  He  had 
first  identified  Himself  with  God,  so  now  He 
comes  into  perfect  union  with  man.  In  His 
speech  with  His  followers  He  deals  always  in 
the  imperative  of  power.  You  can  do  the  right 
thing  because  you  ought  to  do  it.  "To  him 
that  believeth  all  things  are  possible."  He  re- 
fuses to  accept  ethical  limitations.  It  is  not 
that  He  prefers  the  beggar  to  the  rich  man.  It 
is  that  in  the  actual  beggar  He  sees  always  a 
possible  saint.  Sainthood  is  the  greatest  thing 
that  man  can  achieve.  It  is  not  that  the  rich 
man  cannot  be  saved,  for  with  God  all  things 
are  possible,  but  it  is  that  the  rich  man  must 
strip  himself  of  his  pride,  rid  himself  of  faith 
in  his  material  fortune,  and,  if  he  would  be 
perfect,  go  and  sell  all  and  give  to  the  poor. 

21 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

This  was  not  an  attack  upon  wealth,  but  upon 
the  pride  of  the  wealthy.  With  the  rich  as  with 
the  poor,  it  is  the  soul  that  counts.  If  you  have 
discovered  that  you  are  a  son  of  God,  nothing 
else  matters.  All  men  may  discover  the  divine 
relationship,  for  to  every  man  there  comes  the 
call  to  reckon  himself  one  of  the  sons  of  God. 
Earthly  distinctions  vanish,  the  discriminations 
of  fortune  must  be  thrown  over,  for  man  has  a 
soul,  and  every  soul  is  free.  This  spiritual  be- 
ing may  unite  with  an  eternal  fatherhood,  and 
then  he  will  discover  that  union  with  his  fellow- 
men  is  the  goal  of  human  society.  We  are 
catching  the  accents  of  the  first  great  Charter 
of  Democracy. 

As  God  looked  upon  the  new-born  creation, 
so  Jesus  looked  into  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
found  them  very  good.  He  taught  sacrifice  in- 
deed ;  but  it  was  none  of  the  Oriental  self-denial 
with  which  men  were  familiar.  He  scandalized 
His  age  because  His  disciples  did  not  fast.  He, 
Himself,  was  at  home  in  every  form  of  society, 
and  was  rebuked  because  He  frequented  the 
banquets  of  the  rich.  The  cross-bearing  that 
He  urged  was  the  love  that  serves.  He  knew 
that  search  for  the  fullness  of  life  was  the  final 
basis  of  usefulness.  As  He  put  more  meaning 
into  the  word  neighbor,  so  He  gave  more  power 

22 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

to  the  word  love.  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself.' '  This  was  not  to  wear  the  hair 
shirt  nor  to  deny  the  beauty  and  joy  of  the 
world.  The  man  who  has  no  high  standard  for 
himself  will  demand  nothing  important  for  his 
fellow-men.  It  is  not  simply  a  call  to  martyr- 
dom. It  is  a  call  to  develop  the  world.  It  is 
only  the  man  who  seeks  justice  for  himself  that 
can  be  trusted  to  enforce  equity  for  other  peo- 
ple. It  is  a  command  that  can  only  be  nobly 
interpreted  by  noble  souls.  It  would  do  no 
good  to  saturate  the  soil  of  human  life  with 
the  martyr  blood  of  thieves  and  scoundrels. 
Life  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  sacrifices  of 
Christ-like  men. 

The  teaching  of  Paul  shows  that  his  own  life 
of  joyous  self-denial  was  based  upon  the  con- 
ception of  benefit  to  others  and  the  joy  of  en- 
riching the  world.  He  sheds  new  light  on  the 
dignity  and  glory  of  every  individual  by  his 
emphasis  upon  the  sanctity  of  the  body  as  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  him  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Eesurrection  is  the  illumination  of 
matter,  and  the  whole  creation,  hitherto  groan- 
ing and  travailing,  is  to  have  a  final  apocalypse, 
when  everywhere  will  shine  out  the  beauty 
of  the  eternal  God.  It  is  no  wonder  that  one 
who  could  think  in  such  great  terms  of  human 

23 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

nature  should  also  give  the  most  explicit  dec- 
laration of  democratic  doctrine:  " There  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor 
female,  but  one  man  in  Christ  Jesus. ' ' 1 

It  has  been  widely  observed  that  Jesus  did 
not  deal  directly  with  either  the  social,  eco- 
nomic, or  political  faiths  of  His  time.  His  work 
was  positive,  regenerative  and  constructive. 
He  neither  attacked  the  evil  of  slavery,  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  economic  injustice,  nor  political 
tyranny.  He  busied  Himself  in  founding  a  so- 
ciety of  love  based  upon  a  life  of  service.  He 
promoted  the  new  order  by  securing  a  new  man. 
In  many  forms  He  repeated  the  admonition, 
"What  is  that  to  thee?  Follow  thou  me."2 
"With  a  wisdom  which  in  another  teacher  would 
have  amounted  to  cunning  He  avoided  imme- 
diate issues  in  the  interest  of  a  world-wide 
movement  and  an  age-long  plan. 

Yet  this  greatest  of  all  revolutionaries  did 
not  come  teaching  a  democracy  of  the  common- 
place. His  essential  view  of  the  potential  great- 
ness of  every  man  was  strong  as  the  hammer  of 
Thor  in  breaking  up  the  old  foundations.  He 
could  not  place  the  sons  of  Zebedee  on  the  right 
and  on  the  left  in  His  kingdom.  The  position 
was  not  a  gift;  it  was  a  reward  of  fitness. 

•Gal.  3:28.  "John  21:22. 

24 


JESUS   AND    DEMOCRACY 

Against  the  caste  system  in  every  form,  an- 
cient and  modern,  he  offered  a  new  social  order 
in  which  lofty  places  were  possible  to  all.  The 
ancient  distinctions  of  life  must  go.  Plato's 
guardians,  warriors,  and  workers  would  not  do. 
Distinctions  of  wealth,  of  intellect,  or  of  the 
most  intimate  social  relations  must  all  shrivel 
in  the  hot  flame  of  love.  But  He  produced  a 
distinction  which  makes  the  blood  and  iron  of 
puritanism  permanent  in  the  veins  of  the  race. 
He  is  calling  men  out  of  every  rank,  rich  and 
poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  slave  and  free,  and 
this  is  the  note  of  recognition:  "Whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother, 
and  my  sister,  and  mother. ' ' 1  It  is  not  an  easy 
task  to  rebuild  a  world.  He  was  come  not  to 
send  peace,  but  a  sword,  to  set  a  man  at  vari- 
ance against  his  father,  and  a  daughter  against 
her  mother.2 

As  a  principle  of  selection  this  unity  of  men 
in  the  will  of  God  compels  recognition  as  the 
noblest  ever  proposed.  It  destroys  the  way- 
wardness of  vagrant  emotions.  Like  a  blast 
from  the  wings  of  God,  it  scatters  the  dry 
leaves  of  current  opinion.  It  tramples  upon 
every  form  of  ordinary  human  ambition.  It 
discloses  a  highway  of  greatness  over  which  the 

1  Mark  3 :  35.  a  Matt.  20 :  1-16. 

25 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

wayfaring  man  may  walk  without  wandering, 
and  yet  a  way  that  can  never  be  trodden  by  un- 
clean feet.1 

It  is  not  only  the  noblest  principle  of  selec- 
tion, but  it  is  the  highest  exhibition  of  pro- 
phetic statesmanship.  The  will  of  God  is  the 
final  law  of  successful  action.  It  moves  in  the 
star-dust;  it  sounds  in  the  feeble  cry  of  the 
new-born  babe ;  it  is  the  basis  of  all  finite  order, 
and  the  final  cause  of  every  form  of  life.  This 
teacher  knew  how  to  make  a  platform  available 
for  all  men  throughout  all  ages. 

These  doctrines,  fine  and  lofty  as  they  are, 
may  seem  impossible  of  application  in  the  do- 
main of  practical  affairs.  But  the  teaching  of 
the  Man  of  Galilee  was  a  compound  of  universal 
principles  with  a  plain  illumination  for  the  do- 
main of  every-day  life.  Turning  to  His  para- 
bles of  the  talents  we  rediscover  His  democ- 
racy under  an  economic  form,  and  yet  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  his  highest  disclosures. 

There  are  three  stories,  each  told  to  give  a 
different  lesson,  and  all  combined  revealing  a 
complete  practical  philosophy.  In  the  first  one 
the  doctrine  is  equality  of  reward  where  there 
is  difference  of  ability.  The  rich  man  gave  to 
one  of  his  servants  five  talents,  to  another  two, 

Isaiah  35:8. 

26 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

to  another  one,  according  to  his  several  ability, 
and  to  those  who  did  what  they  could  with  their 
talent  and  capital  he  gave  exactly  the  same  rec- 
ognition, "Well  done,  thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things."  * 

The  second  picture  of  life  is  the  story  of  the 
men  in  the  market-place  waiting  to  be  hired.  A 
story  which  has  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of 
those  who  write  commentaries,  though  the 
teaching  is  very  plain.  Those  who  went  out  in 
the  morning  to  work  in  the  vineyard  or  at  the 
third  hour,  or  even  at  the  eleventh,  received 
every  man  the  same  wages.  Much  did  the  hard 
workers  complain  of  the  burden  and  heat  of 
the  day,  and  of  the  injustice  of  the  man  who 
owned  the  vineyard,  but  the  cryptic  saying,  * '  so 
the  last  shall  be  first  and  the  first  last,"  is  a 
deep  revelation  of  one  of  the  sorest  problems 
of  human  life.  Men  are  expected  to  work  as 
occasion  offers.  In  a  world  of  mixed  good  and 
evil  many  who  are  worthy  and  even  gifted  fail 
of  adequate  self-expression;  and  as  the  first 
parable  teaches  equality  of  reward  for  differ- 
ent abilities,  so  this  parable  teaches  us  in  a 
perfect  world  there  is  equality  of  reward  for 
different  opportunities.2 

1Matt.  25:  14-23.  aMatt.  20  :  1-16. 

27 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

We  are  in  danger  now  of  stumbling  into  one 
of  the  deepest  pitfalls  in  the  pathway  of  reform- 
ers, and  that  is  the  danger  of  placing  npon  the 
social  group  the  burden  that  ought  to  belong  to 
the  capacity  and  responsibility  of  the  individual. 
From  such  an  ethical  disaster  we  are  saved  in 
the  parable  of  the  nobleman,  who  called  to  him 
ten  servants  and  gave  to  each  a  pound,  and  bade 
him  ' '  occupy  till  I  come. ' ' x  When  he  returned 
he  found  that  one  had  made  ten  pounds  and 
another  five,  and  each  man  was  treated  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  service.  The  man  of  ten 
pounds  was  given  authority  over  ten  cities, 
while  the  man  who  had  gained  five  pounds  was 
made  lord  over  five  cities.  We  have  here  a  new 
doctrine.  The  ten  servants  were  given  the  same 
capital  and  the  same  opportunity,  but  they 
achieved  different  results,  nor  did  they  receive 
the  same  recognition.  The  doctrine  is  that  in  a 
perfect  world  there  are  differences  of  reward 
for  differences  of  devotion. 

His  revelation  of  God  was  sufficiently  star- 
tling. It  was  given  in  no  full  or  philosophic 
form;  it  was  rather  assumed  as  the  common 
basis  of  all  human  life.  He  raised  himself  from 
peasantry  to  princedom  by  the  sublime  convic- 
tion, ' '  I  and  my  Father  are  one. ' '    To  identify 

aLuke  19:  13-19. 

28 


JESUS   AND   DEMOCRACY 

with  God  through  Himself  He  called  all  men. 
This  was  the  basis  of  His  religious  revolution. 
His  new  view  of  man  was  no  less  startling. 
His  value  depended  upon  the  worth  of  the  soul, 
and  the  free  capacity  of  every  human  being  to 
achieve  greatness  if  he  would.  The  laurel 
wreath  withered  and  the  crown  vanished  from 
the  brow  of  the  world's  great  men,  because 
service  and  not  mastery  was  the  proper  occupa- 
tion of  the  great.  The  good  life  might  be  a  de- 
cency or  a  convention,  but  the  good  heart  was 
the  one  ethical  value  in  the  sight  of  God.  With 
these  great  revelations  of  man  and  life,  it  was 
inevitable  that  He  should  found  a  new  society 
as  a  fuller  expression  of  the  commandment, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

He  had  been  tracing  not  only  the  solidarity 
of  the  race,  but  all  the  comprehensive  relation- 
ships of  the  universe.  He  had  not  only  been 
speaking  of  the  problems  of  time,  but  He  had 
been  flinging  upon  the  canvas  of  the  present 
the  light  of  all  the  ages.  Timeless,  limitless, 
divine,  He  must  found  a  society.  His  doctrine 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  the  outcome  of  all 
His  teaching  and  it  provided  for  the  perpetual 
incarnation  of  His  principles.  His  little  group 
were  to  disciple  the  nations.  This  message  of 
His  was  a  little  leaven  that  would  at  last  make 

29 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  world  united  and  glorified.  This  peasant 
Jew  provides  permanent  vision  in  human  his- 
tory, but  it  is  an  earthly  vision  and  built  upon 
the  most  fundamental  realities.  It  can  never 
perish  until  men  have  ceased  to  aspire,  to 
struggle,  to  believe  in  greatness.  We  are  look- 
ing into  the  fountain-head  of  the  Ideals  of  De- 
mocracy. 

As  the  principles  of  Jesus  furnished  those 
ideas  hitherto  but  partially  expressed,  and  ap- 
parently fresh  and  inexhaustible,  which  have 
been  the  goal  of  the  best  men  of  the  race  since 
His  time,  so,  in  the  person  of  Jesus,  we  see  the 
essential  Democrat.  He  is  at  home  in  every 
form  of  society.  He  is  the  companion  of  all 
classes  of  men.  He  does  not,  like  Dante,  turn 
away  from  the  too-splendid  vision  of  the  divine. 
The  august  throne  of  God  is  His  natural  home. 
He  knows  Himself  on  the  march  thitherward. 
He  does  not  aspire  to  the  throne.  It  has  been 
given  Him  of  His  Father.  But  He  is  also  the 
friend  of  the  helpless  and  the  sinner.  Yet  in 
the  gifts  of  strength  and  healing  there  is  neither 
condescension  nor  obligation ;  He  does  not  stoop 
to  the  lowly.  This  divine  man  came  into  the 
world  to  share  the  fortunes  of  the  outcast  and 
to  reveal  to  him  an  unspeakable  glory. 


30 


CHAPTER  n 

INFLUENCE  OF  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY 

Jesus  had  furnished  the  idea  of  an  ethical 
democracy.  He  had  given  his  generation  a  good 
deal  besides.  But  it  is  the  fortunes  of  this  idea 
that  we  wish  to  follow.  He  had  gathered 
around  him  a  few  disciples  with  an  apparent 
carelessness  of  choice  that  seems  a  reflection 
upon  his  shrewdness.  He  had  spoken  very  lit- 
tle about  organization  or  the  future.  He  had 
apparently  poured  contempt  upon  worldly  wis- 
dom. As  He  stood  before  Pilate,  He  asserted 
the  ideal  nature  of  his  society.  His  kingdom  is 
not  of  this  world.    His  followers  will  not  fight. 

In  the  order  of  history  there  are  men  who  in- 
carnate special  forms  of  life,  and  there  are 
ideas  which  find  for  themselves  a  social  body. 
The  essential  things  of  history  are  always  so- 
cial. The  individual  is  sure  to  perish.  In  the 
unfolding  of  physical  life,  nature  thrusts  aside, 
with  a  certain  brutality,  whatever  is  not  a  con- 
necting link  between  the  past  and  the  future. 

31 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  physical  life  to  be  significant  must  not  only 
realize  itself  in  its  environment,  but  must  also 
have  a  certain  surplus  of  vitality  to  lend  to  the 
historic  struggle  for  existence,  and  to  live  again 
in  some  nobler  species.  In  like  manner  it  is  the 
social  part  of  human  life  that  has  significance 
for  history.  The  individual  teacher  is  not  im- 
portant unless  his  pupil  can  play  the  Plato  to 
his  Socrates.  Aristotle  did  not  live  in  the  world 
because  he  was  the  teacher  of  Alexander; 
neither  did  Seneca  because  he  gave  lessons  to 
Nero.  The  historic  figures  are  those  that  fur- 
nish standards  of  conduct  or  forms  of  life, 
which  survive  in  social  groups. 

Was  it  the  most  superb  skill  of  construc- 
tive genius,  or  was  it  the  untimely  fate  of  an 
enthusiast  that  caused  Jesus  to  leave  in  the 
world  no  plan  of  government,  nor  definite 
church  order,  nor  any  statement  systematic  and 
precise  that  could  furnish  a  rule  for  either 
opinion  or  conduct?  If  it  was  intentional,  it 
was  beyond  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  men  that 
have  lived,  for  it  will  be  discovered  that  pre- 
cisely because  the  glowing  passion  was  clothed 
in  so  slight  a  raiment  of  organized  life,  and  so 
must  remain  forever  flexible  and  free,  his  mes- 
sage was  preserved  to  the  world. 

The  city  of  Eome  was  the  first  world-city  in 
32 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

history.  Other  cities  have  been  rich  and  great, 
but  this  capital,  with  consummate  policy,  made 
welcome  the  leaders  of  all  the  provinces;  gave 
hospitality  to  all  schools  of  thought  and  all 
forms  of  religion,  and  was  catholic  in  a  sense 
the  world  had  never  known  before  and  has 
never  equaled  since. 

The  Roman  empire  adapted  itself  with  care- 
less liberality  to  the  manners  and  customs  of 
its  dependent  provinces.  But  it  took  from 
them  their  surplus  wealth  and  covered  the 
known  world  with  a  complete  political  and  mili- 
tary organization. 

It  was  not  in  Rome  only,  but  throughout  the 
world,  that  a  contest  for  supremacy  was  going 
on  among  the  various  religions.  Splendid  al- 
tars and  strange  rituals  competed  one  with  the 
other.  Egypt  and  the  Orient  sent  their  mis- 
sionaries and  established  their  cults  in  the  capi- 
tal of  the  world. 

Upon  what  terms  could  the  religion  of  a 
crucified  Jew  compete  with  the  culture  of  Pa- 
ganism, the  splendor  of  Egypt,  or  the  mysti- 
cism of  the  Orient?  There  was  neither  politi- 
cal influence  nor  wealth;  there  was  neither 
beauty  nor  intellect;  there  was  none  of  the 
ordinary  social  forces  of  the  world  behind  the 
new  movement.  Then  it  had  to  bear  special 
4  33 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

penalties  because  of  its  own  nature.  Though  it 
was  vague  in  statement,  and  weak  in  organiza- 
tion, it  was  essentially"  intolerant,  for  it  brooked 
no  rivals  and  claimed  the  whole  world  as  its 
own.  By  all  the  rules  of  history,  it  should  have 
been  even  more  easy  to  strangle  the  religion 
than  it  was  to  crucify  its  founder. 

When  one  considers  the  methods  employed, 
the  most  significant  thing  about  the  whole 
problem  is  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Chris- 
tian religion  proceeded  to  conquer  the  world. 
The  ancient  society,  enervated  by  wealth  and 
corrupt  in  morals,  was  confronted  by  the  se- 
verest standards  of  conduct  and  character. 
The  small  Christian  communities  that  were 
founded  were  enmeshed  in  a  social  order,  pol- 
luted and  depraved.  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the 
Romans,  describes  in  terrible  terms  the  moral 
condition  of  the  ancient  world,  and  all  he  has 
to  say  is  more  than  confirmed  by  Juvenal.  It 
is  no  wonder  that,  in  his  letters  to  his  little  so- 
cieties at  Corinth,  he  should  have  to  rebuke 
them  for  the  remains  of  pagan  vices,  and  to 
urge  upon  them  a  voluntary  separation  from  the 
customary  heathen  rites.  The  marvel  is  not 
that  Paganism  defeated  at  her  own  altars  often 
reappeared  within  the  bosom  of  the  church ;  but 
the  wonder  is  that  in  all  the  days  of  the  church, 

34 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

even  those  most  depraved,  she  still  bore  wit- 
ness to  the  levels  of  life  taught  by  her  Master, 
even  though  living  upon  those  levels  seemed  to 
be  practically  impossible. 

It  has  already  been  urged  that  an  ethical  de- 
mocracy was  of  the  essence  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  If  this  be  true,  then  the  church,  as  the 
incarnation  of  his  message  to  men,  in  so  far  as 
it  was  Christian  at  all,  was  bound  to  carry  the 
seeds  of  democracy  wherever  she  went,  and 
consciously  or  unconsciously  bear  witness  to 
human  rights. 

The  nature  of  the  early  Christian  societies  is 
perhaps  more  readily  understood  if  they  are 
looked  at  from  the  angle  of  the  synagogue,  and 
if  primitive  Christianity  be  regarded,  in  the  be- 
ginning, as  a  sect  of  Judaism.  The  early  Chris- 
tian societies  were  without  question  of  the  sim- 
plest character.  It  was  only  after  they  in- 
creased in  number  and  in  extent  that  the  church 
took  on  the  form  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
local  organizations  became  subordinate  to  pro- 
vincial, to  metropolitan  and  to  imperial 
methods. 

The  Greek  and  Hebrew  influence  struggled 
for  supremacy  in  the  churches  from  the  begin- 
ning. The  New  Testament  scarcely  veils  the 
conflict  between  Paul,  the  apostle  of  the  free 

35 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

churches,  and  the  leadership  of  the  church  in 
Jerusalem.  When  that  city  was  destroyed 
by  Titus,  in  the  year  70  A.  D.,  the  new 
religion  was  set  free  from  Judea.  The  Gali- 
leans, as  they  were  called,  retired  to  the  East 
of  the  Jordan,  and  maintained  a  mixture  of  the 
old  Judaism  with  the  new  faith  until  the  Ebion- 
ites  finally  disappeared  in  the  Fourth  Century. 

The  Greek  influence,  on  the  other  hand,  intro- 
duced an  early  humanism  into  Christianity,  af- 
fected very  much  the  church  of  Alexandria,  and 
at  the  opposite  pole  from  the  Ebionites  were 
the  Gnostics,  who  lasted  in  the  church  for  five 
hundred  years.  Meantime,  in  the  unfolding  of 
events,  Greek  theology,  Hebrew  worship,  and 
Eoman  organization  all  lent  themselves  to  the 
development  of  a  coherent  form  of  church  or- 
der which,  with  varying  fortunes,  was  to  live 
in  the  world  for  many  centuries.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  the  success  of  the  early 
churches  was  wholly  among  the  poor  and  igno- 
rant. It  seems  to  have  made  a  cross-section  of 
society  from  top  to  bottom.  The  author  of  the 
letter  to  the  Philippians  proudly  writes:  "All 
the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  that  are  of 
Caesar's  household."  * 

And  Tertullian,  in  less  than  two  centuries 

1Phil.  4:22. 

36 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

after  the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  Church, 
writes :  ' l  We  are  of  yesterday  and  yet  we  have 
occupied  all  that  belongs  to  you." 

It  is  necessary  to  account  first  of  all  for  the 
triumph  of  Christianity,  and  then  to  discover 
the  effect  of  that  triumph  upon  the  structure  of 
society.  Gibbon  recognizes  the  effect,  though 
he  does  not  do  full  justice  to  the  extent  of  the 
success  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  says,  "It 
will  appear  that  it  (the  Christian  Church)  was 
effectually  favored  and  assisted  by  the  five 
following  causes:  I.  The  inflexible  zeal  of  the 
Christians.  II.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life, 
improved  by  every  additional  circumstance 
which  could  give  weight  and  efficiency  to  that 
important  truth.  III.  The  miraculous  powers 
ascribed  to  the  primitive  church.  IV.  The  pure 
and  austere  morals  of  the  Christians.  V.  The 
union  and  discipline  of  the  Christian  Republic 
which  gradually  formed  an  independent  and  in- 
creasing state  in  the  heart  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire."1 

The  second  and  third  reasons  assigned  may 
have  had  much  to  do  with  the  rapid  spread  of 
the  church.  The  first  cause  alleged  must  itself 
be  accounted  for.  The  fourth  cause  was  doubt- 
gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire/ '  Chap. 
XV. 

37 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

less  a  hindrance  to  an  early  and  easy  triumph, 
as  it  has  been  a  barrier  between  the  church  and 
the  world  in  all  times.  And  the  fifth  is  a  result 
of  the  spread  of  Christianity  rather  than  the 
cause  of  its  success.  The  union  of  faith  and 
life  set  forth  in  the  great  commandment: 
"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  with  all  thy  soul; 
and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself/ ' 
by  means  of  a  common  brotherhood  where  men 
sought  the  divine  for  strength,  and  the  human 
for  service,  was  the  central  power  of  the  early 
church.  This  power  conquered  a  worn-out 
world  and  supplanted  all  opposing  faiths.  It 
was  the  living  miracle  of  love  in  a  selfish  world 
that  kept  alive  the  mustard  seed,  feeble  and  in- 
significant, which  Jesus  threw  upon  the  earth, 
until  it  grew  into  a  mighty  tree,  the  shelter  of 
the  nations. 

The  most  striking  tribute  to  the  power  of  the 
early  churches  was  their  patronage  by  Con- 
stantine, Western  Caesar  in  306,  sole  Emperor 
in  323.  A  curious  historical  fatality  seems  to 
have  prevented  any  clear  view  of  the  character 
of  Constantine,  or  his  place  in  history.  Gib- 
bon1 states  that  Constantine  mingled  patron- 
age of  the  historic  paganism  and  of  the  new 

1  Gibbon 's  ' '  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Eoman  Empire, ' '  Chap. 
XX. 

38 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

faith  for  many  years;  and  also  intimates  that 
Constantine  may  have  been  affected  by  the  es- 
teem which  he  entertained  for  the  moral  char- 
acter of  the  Christians,  and  that  it  was  un- 
doubtedly useful  to  him  that  his  subjects  should 
be  persuaded  to  receive  the  "natural  and  civil 
obligations  of  society." 

The  church  historians  on  the  other  hand  have 
rejoiced  in  the  conversion  of  Constantine  as 
one  of  the  early  triumphs  of  their  faith,  and 
have  written  in  many  forms  the  story  of  the 
appearance  in  the  sky  of  the  flaming  cross  with 
the  words,  "In  this  sign  thou  shalt  conquer." 
These  men  have  been  influenced  either  by  the 
historic  or  by  the  theological  interest.  The 
interest  of  the  historic  churches,  so  called,  is 
bound  up  in  the  validity  of  an  organization  ec- 
clesiastically existent  before  Constantine,  but 
recognized  and  enthroned  by  him.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Christian  churches  generally  have 
been  interested  in  what  is  known  as  the  Nicene 
Creed;  the  symbol  of  all  orthodoxy  and  the 
fountain-head  of  all  pure  theology. 

Constantine  deserved  the  title,  "The  Great," 
on  account  of  his  abilities  as  a  soldier,  his  skill 
as  a  ruler,  and  a  comprehension  of  his  times 
which  amounted  to  political  genius.  He  was 
one  of  those  men  who  deal  with  facts  rather 

39 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

than  with  theories.  If  we  had  a  stenographic 
report  of  the  conversation  between  Constantine 
and  his  brother  Emperor,  Licinius,  at  Milan,  it 
would  make  plain  many  things.  There  can  be 
little  question  that  Licinius  brought  to  him  the 
news  that  the  whole  empire  was  honeycombed 
with  the  Christian  faith;  that  churches  and  be- 
lievers were  to  be  found  everywhere;  that  in 
spite  of  occasional  persecutions  and  martyr- 
doms, losses  of  property  and  position,  the 
primitive  Christians  believed  in  their  re- 
ligion in  a  sense  known  to  the  adherents  of 
no  other  faith.  The  policy  of  Constantine  was 
the  result  of  the  success  of  the  new  doctrine 
rather  than  its  cause.  His  soldiers  were  ready 
to  march  under  a  Christian  standard,  and  a 
vast  empire  was  waiting  to  be  consolidated  by 
a  common  faith.  One  government,  one  sword, 
and  one  creed  make  an  effective  Trinity  in  the 
hands  of  power.  The  Edict  of  Toleration  fol- 
lowed the  conquest  of  Italy.  It  provided  for 
the  restitution  of  all  the  civil  rights  of  Chris- 
tian believers;  the  restoration  of  their  per- 
sonal property  and  their  political  prerogatives, 
as  well  as  the  giving  back  again  to  the  churches 
their  temples  and  their  lands,  which  had  been 
confiscated  by  earlier  rulers. 

The  Emperor  did  not,  at  this  time,  attempt 
40 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

to  suppress  paganism,  but  what  he  did  do  was 
to  give  to  his  subjects  the  right  of  following  the 
religion  which  they  preferred.  It  was,  in  fact, 
going  back  to  the  easy  tolerance  of  the  earlier 
days,  when  any  new  god  with  a  respectable 
number  of  adherents  might  gain  an  altar  in 
the  ' '  city  of  the  seven  hills. ' '  For  many  years 
Constantine  continued  the  practice  of  the  Pagan 
worship.  Doubtless  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian men,  and  the  value  of  the  Christian 
faith  to  social  order,  impressed  him  more  and 
more.  But  long  after  the  supposed  vision  of 
the  cross  in  the  sky,  and  long  after  the  Edict 
of  Toleration,  Constantine  continued  to  break, 
one  by  one,  all  the  commandments  of  the  deca- 
logue, and  to  stain  his  consummate  policy  with 
treachery  and  murder,  not  sparing  rivals,  foes, 
nor  friends,  and  selecting  even  members  of  his 
own  household  for  the  slaughter.  According  to 
the  teaching  of  many  Christians  in  his  day,  bap- 
tism was  effectual  for  the  cleansing  of  the  soul 
from  sin.  The  baptism  could  be  administered 
once  only,  and  with  a  craft  that  well  became 
him  he  put  off  the  solemn  rite  of  admission  into 
the  Christian  church  until  just  before  his  death. 
The  breadth  of  his  policy  is  further  proved 
in  his  removal  of  the  seat  of  empire  from 
Eome  to  Constantinople,  which  he  accomplished 

41 


DEMOCEACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

in  the  year  330.  The  effect  of  this  removal 
upon  the  fortunes  of  the  early  church  was  not 
so  great  as  it  would  seem  from  the  forged  tra- 
ditions of  the  donation  of  the  city  and  its  sur- 
rounding to  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  That,  of 
course,  did  not  happen.  But  with  the  ascen- 
dency of  the  church,  and  the  political  decay  of 
Eome,  the  Bishop  came  to  have  an  influence 
which  would  not  otherwise  have  been  his.  The 
recognition  of  the  church  by  the  government 
and  the  safeguarding  of  its  property  rights 
gave  it  opportunity  to  grow  to  an  independent 
power.  It  was  natural  that,  as  a  central  church 
established  branches,  these  should  rely  upon 
the  mother  church  for  advice,  which  soon  took 
the  form  of  authority.  The  Roman  form  of 
organization  triumphed  by  those  processes 
which  tend  to  the  consolidation  of  authority  by 
the  union  of  interests,  and  the  consent  of  those 
who  shared  in  the  contents  of  a  common  social 
mind.  It  was  not  in  the  days  of  Constantine, 
nor  for  many  generations  thereafter,  that  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  exercised  undisputed  authority 
over  the  Christian  world.  But  the  development 
of  his  power  was  one  of  the  necessities  of  hu- 
man history,  and  one  of  the  reasons  for  the 
making  of  the  modern  world. 

The  Greek  Spirit  at  work  within  the  church 
42 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

sought  to  formulate  doctrines,  and  must  needs 
express  itself  in  theology.  This  resulted,  of 
course,  in  the  conflict  of  opinion.  Alexandria, 
as  the  capital  of  learning,  was  the  natural  seat 
of  the  conflict;  and  here  between  Athanasius 
and  Arius  as  the  leaders  there  ensued  a  strug- 
gle which  threatened  the  unity  of  the  church, 
and  so  the  unity  of  the  empire,  because  they 
could  not  agree  as  to  the  nature  of  Jesus  and 
the  kind  of  a  relation  which  he  sustained  to  God 
and  man.  The  wise  Constantine  saw  at  once 
the  practical  danger  that  was  involved  in  theo- 
logical controversies,  which  in  themselves  did 
not  appeal  to  his  practical  sagacity. 

Synods  had  been  held  frequently  between 
representatives  of  neighboring  churches,  and 
some  of  them  between  churches  from  a  wide 
area,  but  these  had  come  together  by  the  initia- 
tive of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  and  their  con- 
clusions had  not  possessed  the  sanction  of  a 
central  authority.  Constantine  endeavored  to 
quiet  the  theological  unrest,  but  his  advice  fail- 
ing to  stem  the  tide  rolling  on  in  fanatical  fury, 
he  at  last  called  together  a  council  of  the 
bishops  to  consider  the  fateful  debate.  The 
general  council  was  held  at  Nicsea  and  not  in 
Rome,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  took  no  con- 
spicuous part  in  its  deliberations. 

43 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE    CHURCH 

The  result  of  the  council  was  in  favor  of 
what  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  ortho- 
dox party.  The  Nicene  Creed  was  promulgated 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  ratified  by  Con- 
stantine,  who,  forgetting  the  Edict  of  Tolera- 
tion between  religions,  threatened  exile  to  those 
who  would  not  accept  the  first  authoritative 
statement  of  doctrine  for  the  universal  church. 
It  is  true  that,  for  fully  two  generations,  the 
conflict  still  waged,  in  spite  of  council  and 
creed,  but  at  last  the  orthodox  party  estab- 
lished its  authority  and  with  it  the  intellectual 
authority  of  the  Christian  organization.  As 
Eoman  organization  fused  the  independent 
churches  into  organic  union,  so  the  final  success 
of  the  Athanasian  party  fastened  upon  the 
church  the  authority  of  the  forms  of  Greek 
thought. 

The  organized  church  had  a  great  deal  to  do 
and  to  bear  in  the  generations  which  were  to 
come.  It  was  necessary  that  heart  of  oak 
should  be  in  the  timbers  of  any  craft  that  was 
to  sail  the  tempestuous  social  seas.  Doubtless 
both  creed  and  bishop  had  their  uses  in  the 
process  of  historic  development.  It  must  not 
be  supposed  that  paganism  was  extinct,  or  that 
the  new  faith  was  through  with  its  opposition, 
but  it  was  so  organized  that  even  from  the  hu- 

44 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

man  side  it  could  not  have  any  serious  rival 
throughout  the  Koman  empire.  And  its  power 
was  seen  when  Julian  the  Apostate  attempted 
to  revive  a  beautiful  and  cultivated  paganism 
and  failed  to  even  shake  the  firm  foundations 
that  had  been  laid. 

This  church,  so  organized,  carried  with  it 
definite  weapons  of  defence.  It  had  not  only 
secured  the  sanction  of  law,  but  afterward  the 
suppression  of  heretics.  Very  early  special 
privileges  were  granted  to  the  church,  in  the 
settlement  of  its  own  disputes,  and  also  in  the 
discipline  of  its  members.  Along  with  the  civil 
law  there  grew  the  statutes  of  the  canon  law, 
made  by  the  church  and  administered  by  the 
church.  Jesus  had  said,  my  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world,  but  the  church,  not  content  with  its 
hold  upon  the  world  to  come,  was  also  claiming 
the  possession  of  the  footstool  of  the  Throne 
of  God. 

Paul  had  unconsciously  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  canon  law  when  he  declared  that  "the 
saints  shall  judge  the  world/ '  and  denounced 
the  habit  of  brother  going  to  law  with  brother 
before  the  unbelievers.1  Voluntary  arbitration 
of  differences  between  the  members  of  the  early 
communities  seems  to  have  been  practiced  from 

*I  Cor.  6:  1-8. 

45 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  beginning.  These  judgments  came  at  last 
to  be  recognized  by  the  state,  and  courts  were 
regularly  authorized  to  settle  disputes  as  well 
as  manage  affairs  of  the  church.  It  was  on  ac- 
count of  the  relation  between  church  and  state 
that  at  last  heresy  was  recognized  not  only  as  a 
sin,  but  also  as  a  crime,  and  if  the  state  pun- 
ished the  offence,  the  church  pointed  out  the  of- 
fender. 

It  would  seem  that  such  a  church  was  simply 
another  form  of  organized  power,  and  could 
not  possibly  have  in  it  a  capacity  for  service  in 
the  development  of  a  democracy.  First  of  all, 
then,  it  must  be  noted  that  the  services  within 
the  church  were  themselves  a  constant  symbol 
of  democracy.  An  order  of  priesthood,  set 
apart  from  common  men,  was  in  charge  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  At  the  altars 
of  faith  there  knelt  the  noble  and  the  peasant, 
and  there  was  no  difference.  Even  the  Em- 
peror, himself,  might  not  go  behind  the  holy 
altar,  but  if  he  wished  to  receive  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  he,  too,  must  kneel  like  any 
other  man.  Here  the  church  furnished  a  per- 
petual and  visible  symbol  of  democracy,  ap- 
pealing to  the  imagination,  entangled  in  the 
emotions,  sanctified  by  prayers,  and  destined  at 
last  to  work  mightily  in  the  fortunes  of  the 

world. 

46 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

The  priesthood  had  its  grades  from  the  low- 
est  servant  of  the  church  to  the  highest  bishop, 
throned  in  a  palace.  But  though  these  men 
were  set  apart  from  the  multitude,  they  were 
recruited  from  the  multitude.  The  church  al- 
ways needed  men  who  were  able  to  think  and 
guide,  and  it  was  always  careless  of  the  place 
from  whence  they  came.  The  boy  cradled  in 
a  peasant's  hut  might  within  the  church  reach 
high  places  of  dignity  and  power.  Indeed,  the 
church  furnished  the  poor  scholar  the  only  am- 
ple career.  Renewing  herself  constantly  from 
the  common  people,  the  church,  even  when  she 
knew  it  not,  was  preparing  the  way  for  an  as- 
sertion of  the  final  dignity  of  every  common 
man. 

These  two  aspects  of  democracy  within  the 
church  itself  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 
Political  and  economic  life  have  always  fur- 
nished distinctions.  Political  organization  and 
social  manners  have  always  recognized  them. 
At  birth,  baptism,  the  gateway  of  the  church; 
and  later,  the  holy  communion,  the  heart  of  the 
church,  were  given  to  all  alike.  They  kept  alive, 
in  eternal  pictures,  the  great  word  of  the  orig- 
inal teaching,  "Whosoever  will  may  come." 

The  democratic  organization  of  the  church 
differed    essentially     from     those     occasional 

47 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

translations  from  lower  ranks  of  society  to  the 
nobility,  or  even  to  the  occupancy  of  thrones. 
These  distinctions  might  sometimes  be  won  by 
great  soldiers  of  mean  birth.  But  it  was  the 
triumph  of  strength.  When  promotion  in  the 
church  came  from  a  reputation  for  sainthood, 
through  sagacity  or  learning,  it  was  quite  a  new 
pathway.  And  that  it  might  be  trodden  by  a 
man  so  poor  as  to  be  barefoot  was  an  essential 
recognition  of  new  values  in  human  life,  which 
had  in  themselves  social  authority. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  au- 
thority of  the  church  for  its  own  members 
rested  upon  any  assistance  from  the  state.  The 
Jews  had  a  conception  that  they  were  a  chosen 
people,  but  with  them  state  and  church  were 
two  sides  of  the  same  shield.  The  Christian 
church,  at  least  for  the  early  believers,  was  es- 
sentially a  divine  institution;  their  citizenship 
was  in  heaven.1  The  widespread  belief  in  the 
early  return  of  Christ  to  the  world,  when  he 
should  set  up  a  visible  kingdom,  lent  itself  with 
peculiar  force  to  a  sense  that  all  other  relations 
were  temporary ;  but  the  relation  to  the  church, 
whatever  apparent  disadvantage  or  even  real 
torments  might  result  from  it,  was  the  only  sure 
way  to  become  the  heir  of  all  the  ages.    There 

*Phil.  3:20. 

48 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

was  not  only  the  symbol  of  the  sacrament  and 
the  sacrifice  of  ordinary  distinctions  in  chnrch 
organization,  but  there  was  much  more:  there 
was  a  belief  in  the  presence  of  God  in  the 
church,  so  real  and  so  vital,  that  the  whole  or- 
ganization became  to  them  supernatural. 
The  freedom  of  the  religious  services  of  the 
early  church  soon  passed  away  with  the  devel- 
opment of  the  priesthood.  The  faith  that  all 
men  who  shared  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
the  apostles  should,  in  the  new  kingdom,  share 
with  them  thrones  of  power  lent  a  vitality  to 
the  faith  never  lost  even  in  the  most  corrupt 
days  of  the  church,  and  made  the  saint  a  com- 
manding presence  in  every  council  and  a  fitting 
occupant  of  every  place  of  power. 

The  early  church  believed  in  foreign  mis- 
sions. Not  only  did  the  apostles  seek  literally 
to  obey  the  command  of  Jesus  to  go  and  carry 
his  teaching  to  all  nations,  but  whenever  the 
church  in  any  form  felt  the  stir  of  new  life, 
the  same  work  was  carried  on  with  new  vigor. 
The  Eoman  empire  divided  into  the  East  and 
West,  but  the  church  spread  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  state.  In  the  East,  Armenia, 
Arabia,  perhaps  India,  were  early  reached  by 
missionaries,  and  in  the  West  the  gospel  was 
preached  and  tribes  were  converted  to  the 
5  49 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

standard  of  the  Cross,  who  did  not  recognize 
any  allegiance  to  the  eagles  of  Eome.  It  was 
this  zeal  for  spiritual  conquest  that  sent  Au- 
gustine to  England,  where  he  secured  the  con- 
version of  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  in  597,  and 
from  the  center  of  Canterbury  pushed  outward 
in  every  direction  until  the  South  church  was 
met,  as  it  is  believed  by  many,  by  an  older 
British  church  in  the  North  and  all  the  Brit- 
ish Isles  were  covered  with  Christian 
temples.  Long  before  this  German  and  Gothic 
tribes  had  yielded  their  allegiance  to  the 
preachers  of  the  new  faith.  Everywhere  the 
church  went  it  laid  the  foundations  for  a  com- 
mon social  life,  a  life  maintained  not  by  force, 
but  by  the  influence  of  great  beliefs,  great 
hopes,  and  new  modes  of  action. 

The  Eastern  church,  torn  by  dogmatic  dis- 
putes, for  which  it  had  the  fatal  Greek  facility, 
maintained  neither  the  authority  nor  the  unity 
of  the  Western  organization.  The  Council  of 
Nicaea  might  recognize  Borne,  Constantinople, 
and  Alexandria  as  churches  of  equal  authority, 
but  the  fortunes  of  human  history  were  with  the 
Western  church,  not  only  on  account  of  the  dif- 
ference in  the  temper  of  the  church,  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  difference  in  the  racial  elements  of 
which  it  was  composed. 

50 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

This  new  spiritual  empire,  wider  in  extent 
and  more  pervasive  in  influence  than  any  other 
form  of  organization  hitherto  known,  by  its  so- 
cial authority  won  recognition  of  the  state ;  and 
the  united  church,  by  the  authority  claimed  on 
account  of  its  divine  character,  was  destined  to 
spread  through  Europe  definite  forces  essen- 
tially revolutionary. 

Two  things  the  Christian  church  borrowed 
from  Judaism:  they  were  the  Bible  and  the 
Sabbath.  When  Jerome  translated  the  Bible 
into  Latin  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  men  a  great 
democratic  document  of  peculiar  fascination 
and  authority.  The  Old  Testament,  from  being 
the  particular  treasure  of  a  people  few  in  num- 
bers, though  widely  scattered,  became  the  great 
text-book  of  the  western  nations.  But  that  text- 
book contained  a  law  essentially  democratic, 
and  with  propositions  bearing  upon  economic 
conditions  that  attempted  to  make  concentra- 
tion of  wealth  impossible.  It  contained  com- 
mentaries upon  life  and  law  in  the  Prophets, 
by  which  human  wrongs  in  words  from  the  lips 
of  the  eternal  God  himself  received  the  most 
scorching  rebukes  and  the  promise  of  vengeance 
upon  the  heads  of  the  oppressors.  The  Book 
was  to  play  a  part  of  untold  significance  in  all 
the  future  of  history. 

51 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  change  of  the  Sabbath  from  Saturday  to 
Sunday  was  without  social  significance,  but  the 
extension  of  a  weekly  day  of  rest  throughout 
Europe  confirmed  by  both  religious  and  secular 
authority  was  another  momentous  fact.  The 
Jews  could  not  keep  their  Sabbath  in  Egypt. 
They  were  slaves.  The  Sabbath,  therefore,  be- 
came to  them  the  sign  of  the  covenant  be- 
tween themselves  and  Jehovah,  who  had  deliv- 
ered them  from  bondage.  God  gave  to  cattle  as 
well  as  to  men  one  day  in  seven  in  which  the 
holy  hush  of  the  supernatural  stilled  all 
the  audacities  of  rank  and  power.  The  Sab- 
bath was  for  all  men;  the  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant with  heaven.  It  was  the  day  upon  which 
they  nourished  their  hearts  with  undying 
hopes.  It  was  a  day  in  which  they  were  free 
from  all  bondage.  It  was  not  only  a  rest  from 
a  secular  toil,  it  was  the  bow  of  promise  upon 
the  stormy  sky  of  time,  containing  the  pledge 
of  seed  time  and  harvest  for  the  future  democ- 
racy. 

The  influence  of  Christianity  upon  Roman 
legislation  from  the  time  of  Constantine  on- 
ward is  difficult  to  trace  step  by  step,  yet  all 
students  of  the  period  agree  that  the  Chris- 
tian faith  found  expression  in  secular  law. 
Both  Gibbon  and  Lecky  recognize  the   effect 

52 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

of  Christianity  upon  legislation.1  But  there  is 
some  confusion  in  most  of  the  writers  between 
the  general  social  spirit  created  by  Christianity 
and  the  actual  laws  that  were  promulgated. 
Among  the  latter,  however,  it  seems  clear  that 
crucifixion,  as  a  mode  of  capital  punishment, 
was  abolished,  and  this  was  doubtless  based 
upon  the  new  sense  of  honor  which  attached 
to  the  Cross.  Branding  on  the  forehead  was 
prohibited.  This  law  was  based  upon  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  body.  The  severity  of  prison  disci- 
pline was  mitigated.  Public  relief  of  poverty 
was  enjoined.  The  severity  of  the  laws  against 
debtors  was  modified.  The  exposure  of  infants, 
sickly  or  deformed,  was  prohibited.  The  gen- 
eral tendency  of  most  of  the  laws  was  in  the 
direction  of  sympathy  and  mercy.  On  the  other 
hand  crimes  against  chastity  were  much  more 
severely  punished  than  they  had  been  for  some 
centuries.2 

The  changes  of  legislation  can  be  more  clearly 
seen  by  comparing  the  Roman  law  in  pre-Chris- 
tian times  with  the  Code,  the  Digest,  and  the  In- 
stitutes of  Justinian,  promulgated  in  the  sixth 
century.  It  is  frequently  stated  that  primitive 
Christianity  was  the  source  of  the  forces  which 

1  Lecky,  ' '  Democracy  in  Europe, ' f  Chap.  VI. 

2Carr,  "The  Church  and  the  Roman  Empire/ '  pp.  35-36. 

53 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

at  last  resulted  in  the  abolition  of  slavery  based 
upon  the  teaching  of  the  brotherhood,  and  the 
explicit  statement  of  Paul:  "In  Christ  Jesus 
there  are  no  distinctions,  neither  male  nor  fe- 
male, bond  nor  free."  The  doctrines  stated  in 
the  Institutes  of  Justinian  x  are  founded  upon 
Christian  authority.  "Free  men  are  those  who 
have  been  manumitted  from  legal  servitude. 
Manumission  is  the  giving  of  liberty.  For 
while  any  one  is  in  slavery  he  is  under  the  hand 
and  power  of  another ;  but  by  manumission  he  is 
freed  from  this  power.  This  institution  took  its 
rise  from  the  law  of  nations,  for  by  the  law  of 
nature  all  men  were  born  free  and  manumission 
was  not  heard  of,  as  slavery  was  unknown,  but 
when  slavery  came  in  by  the  law  of  nations,  the 
boon  of  manumission  followed."  The  entire 
book  is  meant,  as  was  the  Jewish  law,  to  facili- 
tate freedom  and  to  maintain  it  after  it  was  be- 
stowed. A  slave  once  set  free  could  not  be 
brought  back  again  into  bondage.  "The  ap- 
proval of  the  ground  of  manumission  once 
given,  whether  the  reason  upon  which  it  is  based 
be  true  or  false,  cannot  be  retracted. ' ' 2 

The  law  of  Justinian  also  limits  the  ancient 
power  of  the  father  over  his  family.    The  an- 

*Lib.  1— Tit  V.  De  Libertinis. 
•Lib.  1— Tit  XI.  De  Libertinis. 

54 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

cient  doctrine  was  that  the  person  and  prop- 
erty of  the  child  belonged  to  the  head  of  the 
household,  and  in  this  respect  the  wife  herself 
had  the  same  standing  as  the  child.  The  rights 
of  the  child,  recognized  first  in  the  right  of  life 
to  every  child  born  into  the  world,  were  steadily 
protected  by  an  increasing  body  of  legislation, 
which  has  only  flowered  out  in  modern  times. 
Dean  Church  states  that  the  Roman  principles 
in  the  construction  of  the  institutions  were: 
"The  community  should  be  governed  by  law, 
and  the  interest  of  the  public  is  paramount  to 
all  others. ' ' 1  The  principle  that  the  community 
should  be  governed  by  law,  though  not  dis- 
tinctly Roman,  received  among  the  Romans  its 
most  effective  application.  But  the  Christian 
interpretation  of  the  interest  of  the  public  in 
all  modern  nations  is  not  Roman.  It  recognized 
more  and  more  the  protection  of  the  weak  and 
the  social  duty  of  the  care  of  the  individual. 
The  passing  of  a  law,  among  the  Romans  as 
elsewhere,  was  not  always  equivalent  to  its  con- 
sistent execution.  For  example,  Constantine  is 
said  to  have  forbidden  gladiatorial  shows  in  the 
arena  in  325,  but  in  404  the  Roman  people  in  the 
Coliseum  were  celebrating  with  the  blood  of 

*Dean  Church's  " Civilization  Before  and  After  Christian- 
ity," p.  18. 

55 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

gladiators  the  anniversary  of  Honorius.  It 
was  the  monk,  Telemachus,  who  leaped  into  the 
arena  forcing  the  swords  of  the  combatants 
asunder,  and  was  afterward  beaten  to  death  by 
the  infuriated  mob.  But  it  was  another  illus- 
tration that  martyrdom  may  be  successful,  for 
Honorius  was  forced  to  make  a  law  which 
lasted,  and  gladiatorial  shows  were  never  seen 
again  in  Eome. 

Important  and  lasting  as  was  the  effect  of 
Christianity  upon  Roman  legislation,  its  social 
influence  was  far  greater.  The  Roman  law  had 
mitigated  the  severity  of  the  claims  of  the 
creditor,  but  the  church  did  much  more.  It 
struck  at  the  power  of  all  wealth  by  a  literal 
adoption  of  the  Mosaic  code,  and  interest  on 
money  loaned  was  condemned.  Money  might 
indeed  be  loaned  to  another,  but  twenty-eight 
councils  and  seventeen  popes  declared  that  there 
should  be  no  usury  or  remuneration  for  the 
use  of  the  money.  For  this  was  the  original 
sense  of  the  word  usury.1 

The  Roman  law  had  encouraged  the  manumis- 
sion of  slaves,  but  the  church  taught  it  as  a  re- 
ligious duty.  And  the  manumission  of  slaves 
was  regarded  as  an  act  of  worship;  was  per- 
formed upon  Sunday  in  the  churches,  and  was 

1Lecky's  ' '  Eationalism  in  Europe. " 

56 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

regarded  as  an  evidence  of  sanctity.  The 
church  went  faster  and  further  than  did  civil 
law,  for  it  was  Pope  Alexander  III  who  de- 
clared that  slavery  could  not  longer  exist  in 
Christian  society. 

But  it  was  a  Christian  clergyman,  Charles 
Kingsley,  who  wrote  for  us  the  story  of  the 
martyrdom  of  Hypatia,  the  woman  philosopher 
of  Alexandria,  in  such  form  that  we  love  the 
pagan  and  hate  the  bishop.  The  murder  of 
Hypatia  is  an  illustration  of  a  great  many  simi- 
lar manifestations  of  power.  But  it  was  never 
because  of  Christianity,  but  always  in  spite  of 
it,  that  these  offences  occurred.  Human  nature 
has  an  unclean  way  of  using  its  strength. 

Eoman  philosophy  had  encouraged  suicide  as 
the  only  dignified  conclusion  of  life,  when  the 
attractions  of  life  failed.  It  was  the  doctrine 
of  the  sanctity  of  the  body,  and  the  belief  in  a 
final  resurrection,  more  than  all  statutes, 
which  branded  suicide  not  only  as  a  crime,  but 
as  a  sin  never  to  be  forgiven,  and  which  on  ac- 
count of  this  faith  made  self-murderers  almost 
unknown  wherever  the  authority  of  the  church 
was  spread. 

Christianity  by  its  very  spirit,  and  through 
the  medium  of  the  Christian  church,  freed 
slaves,  cared  for  the  sick,  fed  the  poor,  became 

57 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

parents  to  orphans  and  elevated  womanhood. 
Men  may  think  as  they  please  about  the  doc- 
trines concerning  the  Madonna  and  the  worship 
which  she  has  evoked,  but  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  Venus  of  the  Eomans,  with  her  sensu- 
ous beauty  and  her  incarnation  of  passion,  and 
the  Madonna  with  the  Child  in  her  arms,  before 
whom  scholars  and  ecclesiastics  bowed  pros- 
trate, is  only  an  external  symbol  of  the  pro- 
found change  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
fundamental  conception  of  human  life. 

It  would  be  untrue  to  history  to  intimate  that 
the  Christians  as  individuals  were  always  con- 
sistent in  their  conduct  or  faithful  to  their  own 
ideals.  Once  again  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
in  spite  of  the  gentleness  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  there  went  with  it,  side  by  side,  in  the 
organization  of  the  church,  a  certain  intoler- 
ance, that  was  perhaps  essential  to  its  lofty 
claims  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  still  un- 
der the  influence  of  the  old  uses  of  political 
power.  Christianity  claimed  to  be  a  lonely 
faith,  and  to  demand  the  world  for  its  inherit- 
ance. When  she  had  power  she  easily  fell  into 
persecutions. 

There  is  another  great  event  to  which  refer- 
ence must  be  made  because  of  its  influence  upon 
the  after  fortunes  of  democracy.     The  Gothic 

58 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

tribes  had  received  a  form  of  the  gospel,  but 
that  had  not  prevented  them  from  looking  with 
eager  eye  toward  the  civilization  and  the  wealth 
of  Southern  Europe.  Pressed  upon,  East  and 
North,  by  the  Huns  out  of  Asia,  the  lure  of  the 
Eoman  Empire  became  more  and  more  fasci- 
nating. The  dark  storms  from  the  North  had 
threatened  Rome  again  and  again,  and  they  had 
been  driven  back  as  much  by  the  luster  of  her 
history  as  by  the  strength  of  her  armies.  Citi- 
zens of  Rome  refused  to  vindicate  the  honor  of 
their  nation  by  fighting  under  the  standard  of 
the  Empire.  It  was  evident  that  the  time  must 
come  when  hired  soldiers  without  honor  quite 
as  much  as  without  patriotism,  and  with  no 
emotion  but  greed,  would  fail  to  defend  the  mis- 
tress of  the  world.  Alaric,  with  his  Goths,  came 
down  in  410  and  invested  the  city.  They  quietly 
sat  down  outside,  ravaging  the  surrounding 
country,  and  waited  for  the  city  to  starve.  By 
treason  from  within  or  by  strength  from  with- 
out at  last  they  broke  down  the  gates,  swarmed 
through  the  streets  to  murder  the  citizens  and 
to  plunder  the  palaces.  The  beast  in  the  men 
glutted  itself  with  blood  and  gorged  itself  with 
plunder,  but  there  was  a  power  which  even  these 
conquerors,  who  knew  none  of  the  modern  limi- 
tations of  war,  acknowledged  as  their  superior. 

59 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

They  recognized  the  churches  as  places  of  asy- 
lum. They  supported  the  refugees  who  had 
flocked  thither,  and  later  they  sat  at  the  feet  of 
priests  and  monks  and  learned  from  them  the 
Latin  language,  the  Latin  culture  and  the  Ro- 
man  law. 

The  church  had  already  become  dominant  in 
Eome,  and  now  she  had  to  bear  the  reproach 
that  it  was  because  of  her  that  Rome  had  been 
ruined.  This  was  the  occasion  of  that  great 
work  of  Augustine,  "The  City  of  God,"  in 
which  he  calls  the  church  and  the  empire  to 
earlier  ideals  and  to  nobler  models.  He  argues 
that  it  was  the  corruption  and  vice  naturally 
belonging  to  Paganism  which  had  made  the 
Roman  the  prey  of  his  foes.  Over  against  the 
earthly  city  with  its  wars,  its  struggles  and  its 
wealth,  there  stands  the  heavenly  city  with  eter- 
nal victory,  and  peace  never  ending.  Cain,  the 
murderer,  is  the  first  city  builder,  visible  and 
material,  but  the  City  of  God,  traced  through 
the  kingdom  of  David  in  the  vision  of  the 
prophets,  at  last  becomes  the  abiding  refuge  of 
the  saints.  Far  more  important  than  its  phi- 
losophy, its  doctrine,  or  its  style,  was  its  in- 
fluence in  after  history  as  a  charter  of  the 
church,  and  perhaps  in  this  respect  it  was  more 
important  than  all  the  bulwarks  of  political 

60 


PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

power  or  economic  fortune  bestowed  by  its  vari- 
ous patrons. 

The  period  and  the  event  marked  the  transi- 
tion toward  another  time.  It  is  a  time  when  the 
empire  of  Eome,  with  all  its  traditions,  has 
been  swept  away,  and  the  church  in  its  organic 
form  is  practically  the  only  visible  institution, 
left  to  maintain  the  social  order,  to  continue 
education,  to  carry  on  works  of  mercy,  and  to 
conserve  the  great  values  which  had  come  to 
the  world  during  these  centuries  of  history. 


CHAPTER  III 
PAPACY  AND  LIBERTY 

St.  Augustine,  in  * '  The  City  of  God, ' '  pressed 
upon  by  the  outward  calamity  of  the  City  of 
Rome,  and  embittered  by  the  sneers  of  the  en- 
emies of  the  Christian  church,  had  taken  ref- 
uge in  a  form  of  ecclesiastical  idealism,  and  the 
work  still  remains  one  of  the  great  monuments 
in  the  literature  of  the  early  Christian  church. 
The  work  was  undeniably  great  with  all  its 
limitations,  but  it  was  neither  history  nor 
prophecy. 

The  papacy  grew,  it  was  not  made.  Wher- 
ever human  interests  increase  in  importance, 
there  arises  definiteness  of  control.  If  a  chief 
may  only  fight,  and  has  no  other  function,  it  is 
an  office  about  which  there  are  no  great  de- 
bates; but  if  a  king  have  palaces,  parks,  rev- 
enues, power,  there  must  be  laws  of  succession, 
and  there  are  often  competitors  for  the  title. 
If  a  people  have  little  property  and  the  stand- 
ard of  living  is  at  the  barbaric  level,  there  is 

62 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

needed  no  body  of  legislation  to  determine 
rights,  for  the  fact  of  possession,  and  the  abil- 
ity to  defend  it,  is  about  the  only  necessity. 
When  wealth  becomes  complex  as  peoples  grow 
rich,  property  rights  must  be  defined  with  great 
care  and  defended  by  the  state. 

The  position  of  the  Bishop  of  Eome  cannot 
accurately  be  traced  in  the  early  generations 
simply  because  it  was  a  place  of  no  importance. 
The  early  brotherhoods  had  little  property,  less 
ambition,  and  no  legal  recognition.  It  may  be 
that  the  earliest  presidents  of  the  various 
churches  were  appointed  by  the  apostles  who 
had  founded  them.  It  is  quite  evident  that  very 
early,  perhaps  even  before  the  death  of  all  the 
apostles,  the  presidents  and  bishops  of  the  con- 
gregations were  elected  by  the  people.  When  a 
group  of  churches  had  grown  from  a  single  cen- 
ter each  church  was  represented  in  the  election 
whenever  the  episcopal  seat  was  vacant.  As 
the  priesthood  grew  to  definiteness  and  impor- 
tance the  clergy  became  more  and  more  the  au- 
thoritative body,  but  even  then  the  people  in- 
general  assembly  were  called  upon  to  approve 
the  choice. 

After  the  days  of  the  Emperor  Constantine 
the  position  of  the  Bishop  of  Eome  became  in- 
creasingly   important.       Wherever    there     is 

63 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

power,  whether  in  church  or  state,  or  in  any 
other  social  organization,  it  is  needful  that  au- 
thority be  regulated  by  custom,  and  confirmed 
by  law. 

Unfortunately  the  weakening  of  the  Eastern, 
empire,  notwithstanding  the  removal  of  the 
capital  to  Constantinople,  the  transfer  of  real 
power  to  the  West  and  the  matter  of  unsettled 
methods  of  election  gave  rise  to  many  conflicts 
between  church  and  state,  based  fundamentally 
upon  whether  the  Emperor  created  the  Pope  or 
the  Pope  sanctified  the  Emperor.  It  was  not 
until  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  that 
the  election  of  the  Bishop  of  Eome,  now  become 
Pope,  was  reserved  to  the  cardinals  under  defi- 
nite rules.  But  even  then  the  people  were  ex- 
pected to  give  their  consent  and  confirm  the 
election.  This  was  a  relic  of  the  ancient  time 
when  the  Pope  was  regarded  as  essentially  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  We  have  to  consider  in  this 
chapter  the  relation  of  the  Emperor  to  the 
Pope,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  conflict  be- 
tween the  two  was  in  its  essence  a  question  of 
the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  Empire  rather 
than  of  their  respective  heads. 

The  Emperors  had  frequently  appointed  the 
Pope,  and  even  lesser  authority  than  the  em- 
peror had  claimed  the  papal  throne  as  a  piece 

64 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

v 
of  political  patronage.    Even  in  modern  times 

the  conclave  of  cardinals  for  the  election  of 
Pope,  though  its  powers  were  now  become  very- 
definite,  and  all  persons  were  excluded  except 
the  cardinals,  felt  the  influence  of  the  national 
groups.  French  cardinals  were  influenced  by 
the  traditional  nationalism  of  the  Roman 
church  in  that  country.  Italy,  by  its  large  num- 
ber of  votes,  held  control,  save  that  the  Italian 
cardinals  were  not  always  agreed  among  them- 
selves as  to  the  proper  policy.  The  right  of 
veto,  as  it  was  called,  was  based  upon  the 
courtesy  which  permitted  rulers  to  select  the 
cardinals  who  were  to  be  created  among  their 
own  people,  and  it  was  natural  that  these  rep- 
resentatives received  direction  from  their  gov- 
ernment as  to  their  action  in  the  conclave.  It 
is  well  known  that  in  the  election  of  the  last 
Pope  Cardinal  Rampolla  would  doubtless  have 
been  elevated  to  the  papacy  had  not  the  Aus- 
trian government  instructed  its  representatives 
to  object.  It  was  only  in  1904  that  Pius  X,  the 
present  pope,  issued  a  bull  prohibiting  the  in- 
fluence of  any  outside  government  in  the  papal 
election,  and  it  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of 
history  that  the  election  of  the  pope  is  only 
finally  free  when  the  temporal  power  has  been 
wholly  swept  away  and  the  ruler  of  the  Catholic 
6  65 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

world  is  regarded  as  a  prisoner  in  the  Vatican. 
The  duties  of  the  papacy  have  changed  very 
much  in  the  progress  of  the  years.  The  work  of 
the  church  is  now  carried  on  under  highly  or- 
ganized bureaus,  presided  over  by  some  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  church.  The  methods  con- 
form practically  to  those  of  modern  civil  gov- 
ernments. In  the  old  days  a  pope  might  go 
from  one  part  of  Italy  to  another.  He  might 
visit  Germany  or  France  upon  errands  of  pol- 
icy, seeking  here  to  inflame  new  zeal,  and  there 
to  settle  a  quarrel,  and  at  another  place  to  sub- 
due those  rebellious  against  his  authority.  He 
would  make  alliances  with  one  sovereign,  or  a 
group  of  sovereigns,  as  the  case  might  be,  and 
he  would  change  his  alliance  to  serve  his  pur- 
pose. In  the  days  after  the  office  became  valu- 
able, but  before  its  tenure  was  definitely  fixed, 
there  were  rival  claimants  to  the  papacy  and 
the  church  listened  at  the  same  time  to  distinct 
but  discordant  voices.  Some  of  the  popes  were 
improperly  chosen,  some  were  unfit  for  office, 
some  were  bad  men,  but  the  papacy  grew  from 
the  vagueness  of  simplicity  in  its  early  form 
to  the  more  than  imperial  power  of  the  day  of 
its  glory  by  definite  necessities  of  human  so- 
ciety, and  out  of  the  reconciliation  of  appar- 
ently conflicting  forces. 

66 


PAPACY   AND   LIBERTY 

It  is  necessary  to  retrace  our  steps  and  to 
take  some  account  of  the  organization  of  the 
church  and  its  constant  movement  toward  unity 
and  toward  control. 

From  the  fourth  century  the  church  had 
sanctified  the  Eoman  Empire  as  the  empire  had 
strengthened  the  church.  The  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  the  church  in  one  form  or  other  was 
confirmed  by  many  of  the  church  fathers.  As 
a  parallel  there  was  the  doctrine  of  the  unity 
of  the  empire,  and  one  church  and  one  empire 
working  together  was  the  underlying  concep- 
tion of  the  social  life  for  many  generations.  It 
is  difficult  for  many  persons  to  see  that  the 
growth  and  the  power  of  the  papacy,  culminat- 
ing at  last  in  its  triumph  over  kings  and  em- 
perors, was  a  vital  and  necessary  thing  in  the 
evolution  of  the  world,  and  in  the  production 
of  those  social  conditions  that  have  been  the 
makers  of  modern  liberty.  The  history  of  so- 
ciety, like  the  history  of  the  planet,  has  been 
by  no  means  an  easy  story  to  write.  A  chance 
visitor  to  the  earth  in  the  carboniferous  age 
would  not  have  understood  that  the  huge 
growths  in  the  forests  and  the  living  monsters 
that  dwelt  in  them  under  the  dark  clouds  were 
necessary  steps  in  that  development  of  life  be- 
ginning with  the  first  few  cells  and  promising 

67 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

to  complete  itself  in  a  golden  age  when  man 
shall  have  subdued  the  earth  and  made  all 
things  peaceful  and  beautiful. 

We  do  not  discover  in  particular  events  alone 
the  conclusion  that  without  papal  supremacy 
there  had  been  no  modern  democracy,  and  yet 
the  unity  of  the  church  and  its  ecclesiastical 
form  was  a  necessary  part  of  that  unfolding  of 
human  life  which  makes  the  modern  world  at 
once  so  complex  and  so  rich. 

In  the  Council  of  Nicaea  there  was  the  tri- 
umph of  a  universal  creed,  at  least  in  theory. 
It  took  nearly  a  century  to  make  the  edicts  of 
the  council  effective.  This  was  the  intellectual 
source  of  the  unity  of  the  church.  On  the  face 
of  it  this  looks  like  a  suppression  of  the  natural 
development  and  the  foundation  of  a  spiritual 
tyranny.  As  the  Eoman  Church  had  made 
creeds  so  the  reformers  in  their  turn  felt  it 
necessary  to  set  up  rival  forms  of  faith.  The 
Eastern  church  divided  from  the  Western  over 
questions  that  seem  to  us  not  only  too  foolish 
to  have  been  thought  about,  but  so  far  removed 
from  us  that  we  cannot  even  comprehend  the 
seriousness  of  the  combat.  We  are  coming  to 
see,  however,  that  the  history  of  the  creeds  is 
simply  a  theological  interpretation  of  the  men- 
tal life  of  the  various  ages  of  Christian  history. 

68 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

When  once  it  is  recognized  that  theology  has  a 
history  as  well  as  the  church,  and  dogma  is  a 
form  of  development,  we  suddenly  find  our- 
selves gifted  with  a  new  and  splendid  liberty. 
The  creeds  become  alive  with  interest.  The- 
ology becomes  an  intellectual  interpretation  of 
the  age  in  which  the  theologians  lived.  It  is 
seen  at  once  that  theology  is  a  definite  intellec- 
tual necessity,  and  that  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  it  must  become  scientific.  There  is  doubt- 
less a  need  for  what  is  called  religious  freedom, 
but  there  can  be  no  more  religious  freedom  in 
theology  than  there  can  be  scientific  freedom  in 
chemistry  or  physics.  In  every  department 
every  one  is  bound  to  accept  both  fact  and  law 
as  soon  as  it  is  discovered.  The  creeds  were 
prophetic  of  a  final  unitary  system  of  thought, 
holy  only  because  it  has  the  authority  of  a 
sound  scientific  method,  and  needing  for  its 
support  only  exposition,  but  neither  convention 
nor  power.  Such  is  the  theology  toward  which 
the  church  is  working  to-day.  But  the  creeds 
were  an  essential  form  of  church  unity,  and 
were  the  promise  of  a  rational  theology. 

As  the  creeds  represented  the  intellectual 
side,  so  the  ecclesiastical  organization  was  the 
outward  and  visible  symbol  of  the  strength  of 
the  church.    It  was  a  "kingdom  within  a  king- 

69 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHtJRCH 

dom."  And  this  was  to  confront  the  world 
powers  in  such  a  way  as  to  become  an  essential 
agent  in  the  creation  of  modern  civilized  na- 
tions. It  is  not  possible,  neither  is  it  neces- 
sary to  this  brief  study,  that  the  growth  of  the 
papal  power  should  be  traced  in  detail.  But  it 
must  be  traced  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  its  in- 
fluence upon  the  making  of  modern  democracy. 
We  have  seen  that  the  Roman  Empire,  so  far 
as  the  Western  world  was  concerned,  had  been 
swept  away,  and  that  in  the  thought  of  Au- 
gustine the  church  was  to  find  a  refuge  in  a 
form  of  ecclesiastical  idealism.  The  Eoman 
Empire  disappeared  out  of  the  West,  but  the 
Eastern  empire,  seated  in  Constantinople,  fur- 
nished for  a  long  time  material  to  fill  the  imag- 
ination with  respect  to  the  unity  of  secular  au- 
thority. New  forces  arose  and  the  Eastern  em- 
pire weakened  and  faded  out  of  the  Western 
world.  The  organization  of  the  Christian  church 
practically  adopted  the  Eoman  constitution.  It 
came  to  have  its  Pope  as  the  counterpart  of  the 
Emperor,  and  with  its  metropolitan  and  pro- 
vincial organization  grew  in  unity  and  power. 
Eome  was  still  the  capital  city  of  the  Western 
world  and  the  chief  man  in  it  was  its  Bishop. 
The  Latin  culture  had  been  spread  northward 
and  westward.    New  peoples  were  arising  who 

70 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

had  accepted  the  Christian  faith,  and  with  it  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Latin  culture  became 
dominant.  In  spite  of  the  conflict  of  forces  and 
the  break-up  of  political  organizations  there 
were  still  fundamental,  in  the  thought  and  life 
of  the  time,  the  great  powers,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  each  central  and  authoritative,  which 
ought  to  work  together. 

The  first  Bishops  of  Eome  were  poor  and  in- 
significant. But  as  the  generations  went  on  the 
church  became  wealthy. 

An  epoch  of  the  history  of  the  church  is  re- 
vealed in  the  person  and  career  of  Pope  Greg- 
ory the  Great.  Himself  rich  and  of  a  noble 
family,  a  man  of  great  strength  of  character 
and  with  a  fine  versatility  of  gifts,  at  once 
scholar,  politician,  liturgist,  and  perhaps  a 
saint,  he  concentrated  and  increased  the  assets 
of  the  church,  already  considerable  through 
the  bounty  of  the  faithful.  He  used  his  own 
inherited  wealth  to  establish  religious  founda- 
tions, and  he  was  one  of  a  long  line  of  great 
men  who  have  added  luster  to  the  papal  throne. 

Orderly  political  life  had  long  ceased  to  exist 
in  the  unity  of  Italy.  Incursions  of  the  North- 
ern peoples  continued  and  North  Italy  was  set- 
tled in  the  sixth  century  by  those  German  and 
Saxon  conquerors,   the  Lombards.     They  ex- 

71 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tended  their  rule  and  threatened  to  overrun 
Italy.  It  was  now  that  Pepin,  King  of  the 
Franks,  was  invited  to  measure  strength  with 
the  Lombards,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  he  decisively  defeated  them.  He  was 
glad  to  have  fought  and  he  was  glad  to  have 
won.  He  represented  the  rising  Western  power 
which  was  to  become  more  and  more  influential 
for  two  hundred  years. 

The  King  of  the  Franks  wanted  something 
that  Pope  Stephen  could  give  him  and  that  was 
the  legitimacy  of  his  power,  and  also  a  spiritual 
alliance  which  meant  more  in  those  days  than 
the  gift  of  an  army.  On  the  other  hand,  Pope 
Stephen  wanted  something,  and  that  was  defi- 
nite authority,  political  as  well  as  ecclesiastical. 
The  two  men  came  to  terms  and  Pope  Stephen 
received  the  City  of  Rome  with  its  surrounding 
territory  and  so  founded  the  temporal  power 
which  already  largely  existed  in  fact,  because 
of  the  wealth  and  of  the  extensive  estates  of 
the  church.  What  had  been  economic  authority 
now  became  political,  and  was  supported  by  the 
most  powerful  throne  in  the  West.  It  did  not 
need  the  pretended  document,  called  "The  Do- 
nation of  Constantine,,,  in  which  it  was  alleged 
that,  on  establishing  his  capital  at  Constanti- 
nople, he  had  left  the  imperial  authority  with 

72 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

the  Bishop  of  Eome,  to  secure  the  result.  That 
was  a  clumsy  and  stupid  forgery.  The  spirit- 
ual influence  of  the  church  and  the  strong 
arm  of  the  king  were  quite  enough  to  estab- 
lish the  new  relations  between  church  and 
empire. 

A  far  greater  man  was  to  arise  with  a  more 
magnificent  program.  Charlemagne,  great  as  a 
warrior,  able  as  an  organizer,  wise  as  a  states- 
man, and  devout  as  a  Christian,  came  to  the 
throne,  enlarged  his  empire,  made  himself  prac- 
tically master  of  Europe,  and  visited  Rome  on 
a  pilgrimage  as  political  as  it  was  religious. 
The  patronage  of  the  empire  was  necessary  to 
the  church,  but  the  church  controlled  the  con- 
sciences of  the  people.  The  church  was  neces- 
sary to  the  empire.  On  Christmas  day,  in  the 
year  800,  Charlemagne  was  kneeling  at  the  altar 
in  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  when  Pope  Leo  III  ad- 
vanced and,  upon  the  head  of  the  kneeling  fig- 
ure, placed  a  golden  crown  while  the  enraptured 
multitude  hailed  him  as  the  new  Caesar.  The 
Empire  had  received  its  crown  from  the  papal 
over-lord.  Charlemagne,  on  the  other  hand, 
increased  the  temporal  dominions  of  the  pope 
and  guaranteed  him  security  in  his  possessions. 
It  was  not  a  bad  bargain  for  either  party.  From 
the  days  of  Charlemagne  until  those  of  King 

73 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Emmanuel,  the  pope  was  a  temporal  prince  en- 
trenched in  the  Eternal  City,  though  ofttimes 
he  had  to  struggle  with  turbulent  nobles  with- 
out and  to  fight  powerful  foes  within. 

For  practical  purposes  Charlemagne  was 
master  of  a  world  empire.  The  great  dream 
had  come  true.  There  was  one  throne  and  one 
pope  who  were  joint  masters  of  the  world.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  view  was  provincial,  since 
the  world  was  only  Europe.  At  the  same  time 
it  embraced  the  territory  that  was  then  vital  for 
human  history.  The  situation  cannot  be 
understood,  nor  the  after  history,  without  tak- 
ing note  of  the  fact  that  the  empire  was  a  con- 
centrated power  rather  than  a  distributed  ad- 
ministration. Local  affairs  were  managed  by 
local  authorities  of  various  forms.  There  were 
no  constitutions,  no  representative  assemblies 
for  making  new  laws,  and  the  old  Latin  code 
was  substantially  the  law  of  Europe,  save  as  it 
was  modified  by  customs  hoary  with  antiquity. 
The  emperor  must  be  sustained  by  force. 
He  must  know  how  to  control  the  nobles,  or 
yield  to  them,  and  the  feudal  power  was  des- 
tined to  play  an  important  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  history.  With  the  growth  of  new  in- 
fluences, special  forms  of  culture,  social  centers 
of  influence,  there  began  slowly  to  emerge  the 

74 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

national  spirit.  A  universal  Latin  empire  be- 
came impossible  under  any  system  with  any 
ruler.  The  nations  emerged,  and  those  imme- 
diately significant  to  the  papacy  were  France, 
Germany  and  Italy.  It  is  not  the  purpose  here 
to  pursue  all  the  various  political  alliances 
made  by  the  papacy  through  dark  generations, 
but  John  XII,  pope  from  955-964,  weak  though 
he  was,  marks  an  important  epoch.  Out  of  the 
civil  leaders  of  the  world  he  chose  Otto  the 
Great  of  Germany,  simply  because  he  was 
great;  called  him  to  his  aid  against  Italian 
enemies,  and  after  the  conquest  of  Italy 
crowned  him  as  the  head  of  the  whole  Roman 
Empire.  Otto  was  a  ruler — Pope  John  was  a 
shadow;  but  he  was  able  to  conspire  against 
the  new  ruler  after  repenting  of  the  favor  he 
had  granted  him.  When  the  pope's  intrigues 
were  discovered  he  was  compelled  to  flee  from 
the  city,  and  the  emperor  named  another  man 
to  take  his  place.  The  German  emperor  was 
hardly  gone  before  the  exiled  John  returned, 
drove  out  the  new  pope,  and  made  it  necessary 
for  Otto  to  return  to  the  city.  Before  he 
reached  the  place  Pope  John  died,  as  some 
think,  by  poison.  It  is  a  confusing  story  to 
attempt  to  follow — popes  and  anti-popes,  revo- 
lutions and  counter-revolutions — but  the  Holy 

75 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE   CHURCH 

Roman  Empire,  with  its  seat  in  Germany,  re- 
mained in  one  form  or  other  until  modern 
times.  No  writer  of  history  can  ignore  the 
many  failures  and  corruptions  of  the  organ- 
ized church,  but  it  is  necessary  to  look  at  them 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  times  in  which 
they  existed,  and  the  problems  which  the  or- 
ganization had  to  face. 

The  church,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  was  given  almost  wholly  the  task 
of  social  organization.  It  was  the  solitary  po- 
liceman among  warring  factions  and  rival 
thrones.  The  civilized  part  of  the  world  was 
corrupt  with  ancient  vices.  The  church  was 
face  to  face  with  the  double  problem  of  fur- 
nishing moral  standards  for  people  who  did 
not  desire  them,  and  at  the  same  time  of  secur- 
ing power  sufficient  to  maintain  itself  upon  the 
throne  of  the  world. 

The  tremendous  difficulties  which  the  church 
had  to  face  are  not  usually  fully  estimated. 
Paul,  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
shows  that,  in  the  very  lifetime  of  the  founder 
of  the  Greek  church,  a  small  community  had  be- 
come infected  with  pagan  vices,  and  how  diffi- 
cult it  was  for  the  authority  of  even  such  a 
great  man  as  the  apostle  Paul  to  maintain  so- 
cial order.    This  was  in  a  single  church  called 

76 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

out  from  the  pagan  world  by  the  preaching  of 
the  primitive  gospel,  founded  upon  moral  up- 
rightness and  social  brotherhood.  It  was  to  be 
expected  that  these  early  churches,  puritan  to 
the  very  core,  would  maintain  their  integrity, 
but  they  did  not.  The  patronage  of  Constan- 
tine  doubtless  increased  the  early  successes  of 
the  church,  but  these  successes,  founded  upon 
imperial  patronage,  were  too  rapid  to  secure 
the  best  results. 

As  the  generations  passed  the  church  became 
exceedingly  rich.  Its  great  and  continuous  cor- 
poration lent  itself  to  that  result.  When  dead 
men  could  purchase  heaven  by  property  which 
they  could  no  longer  use,  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  endowments  of  the  church  should  grow.  If 
the  movement  had  not  been  checked  by  the  dis- 
solution of  monasteries  and  various  move- 
ments, which  were  really  economic  revolts,  by 
this  time  the  church  would  have  practically 
controlled  the  wealth  of  the  world.  It  would 
not  have  been  so  rich  a  world  as  we  have  now, 
but  it  would  have  been  a  colossal  religious  trust. 
The  monastic  orders,  which  denied  possessions 
to  the  individual  member,  increased  the  power 
of  the  institution. 

This  situation  arose :  The  wealth  and  power 
of  the  church  gave  to  its   distinctions  great 

77 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

value.  Places  in  the  church  were  sought  by  the 
most  obvious  motives  of  worldly  ambition,  and 
were  often  secured  by  methods  notoriously  cor- 
rupt. 

It  is  not  worth  while,  therefore,  to  point  out 
that  John  XII  was  not  only  a  weak  man,  but 
was  also  a  bad  man.  Nor  is  it  remarkable  that 
many  of  those  who  preceded  and  followed  him 
were  men  without  character  and  sometimes 
without  ability.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  was  still 
in  the  bosom  of  the  church,  but  it  was  wrapped 
about  with  so  many  titles  and  dignities  that 
men  could  not  read  the  sacred  scroll.  He  had 
insisted  that  it  would  not  answer  for  the  rulers 
of  the  church  to  be  men  of  world  power.  He 
bade  them  not  to  rule  as  the  Gentiles  did,  but 
rather  to  learn  how  to  serve,  if  they  would 
achieve  greatness.  Outwardly  the  church  was 
strong,  but  meantime  its  moral  authority  was 
everywhere  in  decay.  Its  sacraments  were  re- 
garded as  a  form  of  magic,  and  social  morality 
was  almost  unknown.  The  pope  was  its  em- 
peror, and  the  bishops  were  members  of  the 
feudal  nobility. 

The  wonderful  thing  about  the  whole  story  is 
that  from  time  to  time  men  of  great  ability  and 
high  character  obtained  notable  positions  in 
the  church,  and  that  when  the  life  of  the  church 

78 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

seemed  most  in  peril,  from  some  quarter  or 
other  a  new  force,  sometimes  national,  some- 
times economic,  and  sometimes  political,  but 
often  spiritual,  came  to  the  defence  of  the  im- 
periled cause.  There  were  still  saints  in  those 
days.  Not  only  individuals,  but  also  scattered 
communities,  kept  alive  upon  the  altars  of  re- 
ligion the  fires  of  the  early  faith.  Some  men 
in  high  places  continued  to  be  prophets  of  a 
better  time.  At  a  time  when  Italy  seemed  to 
have  almost  forgotten  the  vitalities  of  the  ear- 
lier Christian  life,  the  Church  in  England,  work- 
ing upon  Saxon  material,  was  building  better 
things.  Dunstan,  afterward  called  a  saint,  as 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  framed  the  ecclesi- 
astical canons  of  King  Eadgar.  Among  the 
prescriptions  were  three  important  matters: 
1.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  faithful  to  assist  in 
building  churches.  2.  It  is  also  their  duty  to 
help  those  in  poverty.  3.  It  reaches  its  great 
climax  by  asserting  that  each  man  should  free 
his  slaves.  Branches  here  and  there  might  de- 
cay and  be  broken,  but  through  all  the  years  the 
roots  of  the  church,  like  those  of  the  Tree  of 
Life,  were  strong  to  renew  her  vitality  and  to 
furnish  some  organism  for  her  service. 

The  monastery  of  Cluny,  France,  with  its 
succession  of  great  abbots,  was  such  a  manifes- 

79 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tation  of  life.  Over  against  the  influence  of 
this  Benedictine  house  and  of  some  other  seats 
of  religion,  was  the  general  condition  of  degra- 
dation, moral  and  political,  into  which  the 
papacy  had  fallen.  We  wander  through  a  maze 
of  popes  and  anti-popes,  there  are  murders  and 
imprisonments,  places  in  the  church  are 
bought  and  sold  like  farms  and  castles.  The 
crowning  debasement  was  the  election  of  Pope 
Benedict  IX,  a  lad  of  twelve  years  of  age,  in 
1033.  The  papal  throne  had  become  a  mere 
appanage  of  the  Counts  of  Tusculum.  The 
degradation  of  the  clergy  may  be  imagined  if 
popedom  and  bishoprics  could  be  bought  and 
sold  with  unblushing  publicity,  and  could  be 
filled  by  men  of  no  character.  Public  worship 
fell  into  disorder,  the  only  sanctity  left  in  the 
church  seemed  to  be  in  the  vestments  that  were 
worn,  and  she  herself  had  become  the  plunderer 
of  the  nations. 

It  was  in  such  times  that,  of  poor  parents,  a 
child,  afterward  known  as  Hildebrand,was  born 
in  the  year  1025,  in  a  village  of  Tuscany.  His 
only  resource  was  an  uncle,  Abbot  of  the  Clu- 
niac  Monastery  of  St.  Mary,  in  Rome.  Scores 
of  houses  depending  upon  the  original  mon- 
astery at  Cluny,  and  adopting  her  discipline, 
had  been  established  in  different  countries. 

80 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

There  are  two  qualities  very  important  for 
influence  in  this  world.  The  one  of  them  is 
great  talent  and  the  other  is  great  sanctity. 
The  talent  a  man  must  have — the  sanctity  he 
may  seem  to  have.  In  the  midst  of  an  age  of 
desperate  laxity  of  morals  Hildebrand  steps 
out  upon  the  stage  of  the  world.  His  abilities 
force  him  to  the  front.  His  energy  was  as  great 
as  his  talents  and  his  moral  standards  were 
equal  to  his  other  qualities.  He  was  destined 
to  be  the  chief  adviser  of  the  church  during 
the  rule  of  six  popes,  to  be  elevated  to  the  Holy 
See  himself,  and  to  do  that  thing  which  men 
sometimes  call  impossible,  namely,  to  create  a 
reformation  within  a  church  without  destroying 
its  organization.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  his 
reformation  alone  which  saved  the  church  and 
which  fought  out  one  of  the  great  strategic  bat- 
tles in  the  history  of  the  civilized  world. 

Other  men  assisted  in  the  work,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  chief  difficulties  of  historical  writing  to 
properly  apportion  merit  to  men  and  to  esti- 
mate the  part  each  career  plays  in  a  great 
movement.  It  is  enough  that  he  was  the  con- 
spicuous character  and  leader  in  the  most  dra- 
matic events.  The  influence  of  Hildebrand 
from  the  first  was  among  the  people,  and  it  was 
based  upon  his  opposition  to  the  evils  and  vices 
7  81 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  the  great  in  both  church  and  state.  "Who 
does  not  know,"  he  writes,  "that  princes  exer- 
cise their  authority  over  their  fellowmen 
through  pride,  robbery,  treachery  and  all  other 
crimes  led  on  by  the  Devil  I"  The  first  emperor 
who  stands  over  against  the  movement  of  Hil- 
debrand  was  Henry  III,  who  brought  the  Holy 
Roman  empire  to  its  greatest  height.  He  strug- 
gled with  his  nobles,  and  he  taught  them  that 
they  were  vassals  and  not  rivals.  He  claimed 
authority  over  the  states  of  Europe,  but  he  ex- 
ercised authority  over  the  church  as  well. 
Three  popes  were  deposed  by  him,  Gregory  VI, 
Benedict  IX  and  Sylvester  III,  and  he  placed 
upon  the  papal  throne  Clement  II,  the  first  of  a 
line  of  German  popes. 

Gregory  VI,  accompanied  by  Hildebrand, 
went  to  the  Roman  Synod,  and  here  his  patron 
resigned  his  place  as  pope  with  the  confession, 
"Because  of  bribery  and  the  malice  of  the 
Devil  he  had  corrupted  his  election  to  the  Holy 
See."  Gregory  VI  had  bought  the  place  from 
the  young  Benedict  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  exact  process  by  which  Gregory  became 
pope.  One  story  is  that  Benedict  IX  had  been 
driven  out  of  the  city  by  the  Romans,  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  had  something  to  sell  or  his 

82 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

godfather  would  not  have  been  the  purchaser. 
Benedict,  Sylvester  and  Gregory  each  claimed 
the  papacy  at  the  same  time.  They  were  in  fact 
competing  popes,  notwithstanding  the  bargain 
and  the  resignation.  The  unhappy  Clement  II, 
who  represented  the  German  emperor,  died  sud- 
denly, as  it  was  supposed  from  poison,  admin- 
istered at  the  instigation  of  Benedict,  who  was 
reinstated  once  again  as  pope,  but  driven  out 
of  Rome  in  less  than  a  year. 

To  follow  the  fortunes  of  Hildebrand  it  is 
interesting  to  know  that  he  went  into  exile  with 
Gregory  VI  in  Germany.  This  was  of  the  high- 
est importance  both  to  Hildebrand  and  to  the 
future  of  the  church.  He  learned  what  Ger- 
many was.  He  became  master  of  its  various 
forces,  and  in  the  future  was  able  to  calculate 
to  a  nicety  what  might  be  expected.  However 
great  a  churchman  the  future  pope  might  be,  he 
was  essentially  a  citizen  of  this  world.  When 
Henry  III  assumed  authority  over  the  church 
Hildebrand,  on  the  other  hand,  sent  letters  to 
the  rulers  of  every  Catholic  country  demanding 
submission  to  the  church  as  the  one  great  in- 
clusive commonwealth,  Mistress  of  the  Nations. 
When  Leo  IX  at  a  later  date  was  appointed 
pope  by  the  emperor,  he  was  told  by  Hilde- 
brand that  he  ought  not  to  accept  the  tiara 

83 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

from  secular  hands.  Together  the  two  men 
made  a  humble  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  clad  in 
modest  garments,  and  there  Leo  was  elected  to 
the  papal  See,  and  upon  the  Roman  election 
based  his  claim  to  rule.  Hildebrand  himself 
received  the  papacy  in  even  a  more  dramatic 
manner.  On  the  death  of  Alexander  II,  while 
the  funeral  rites  were  in  progress,  in  the  very- 
face  of  the  dead,  the  whole  audience  commenced 
to  shout,  "Hildebrand,  Hildebrand,  he  shall  be 
pope!"  The  great  emperor,  Henry  III,  was 
dead  and  had  been  succeeded  by  Henry  IV. 

The  program  of  Hildebrand,  both  before  he 
reached  the  papacy  and  after,  included  two  dis- 
tinct elements.  In  the  first  place,  he  proposed 
to  reform  the  church.  The  ecclesiastical  offices 
should  no  more  be  bought  and  sold,  nor  should 
the  clergy  live  lives  of  open  immorality.  The 
sacraments  of  the  church  should  be  adminis- 
tered by  clean  hands,  and  at  least  to  a  good 
degree  the  doctrine  of  the  church  and  the  life 
of  the  church  should  correspond.  But  in  order 
to  accomplish  his  reforms  he  must  secure  the 
freedom  of  the  church.  Ecclesiastical  offices 
had  been  held  as  the  possession  of  feudal  lords. 
This  must  cease.  Three  doctrines  at  his  behest 
were  adopted  by  the  Roman  senate  in  1075. 
First,  the  celibacy  and  chastity  of  the  clergy. 

84 


PAPACY   AND   LIBERTY 

Second,  prohibiting  the  sale  of  ecclesiastical 
offices.  The  third  was  a  blow  at  feudalism  by 
declaring  that  lay  investiture  was  invalid.  The 
church  had  bowed  the  knee  to  her  ruler,  for  the 
conflict  of  Hildebrand  was  not  alone  with  the 
political  power  of  the  empire — it  was  also  with 
the  clergy  of  Europe,  and  the  first  victory  of 
Hildebrand  was  won  over  the  church.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  evils  all  ceased  at  once 
or  indeed  during  this  period,  but  they  were  now 
under  ban.  They  were  reduced  in  number  and 
the  whole  tone  of  Europe  was  elevated. 

Hildebrand  conquered  the  church,  but  he  had 
also  to  fight  his  battle  with  the  emperor.  Henry 
IV  had  the  spirit  and  the  ambition  of  his  father, 
but  lacked  his  commanding  will  and  his  stead- 
fastness of  purpose.  Nevertheless  he  was  swift 
to  act.  Hildebrand  had  been  elected  pope  by  a 
popular  assembly.  The  validity  of  his  election 
could  be  questioned  both  on  grounds  of  ecclesi- 
astical order  and  because  it  was  in  defiance  of 
the  imperial  authority.  The  emperor  sent  a 
message  deposing  him  from  the  papal  See,  and 
he  cited  Hildebrand  to  appear  before  a  council, 
which  he  himself  had  called  and  to  which  he 
sent  an  ambassador  representing  his  authority. 
A  lesser  man  might  have  submitted,  but  Hilde- 
brand, now  Pope  Gregory  VII,  instead  of  at- 

85 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tending  the  council  or  recognizing  any  right  of 
the  emperor,  issued  against  him  a  bull  of  ex- 
communication. The  emperor  started  from 
Speyer,  a  place  from  which  we  are  to  hear 
again  in  the  fortunes  of  Martin  Luther,  be- 
tween whom  and  Hildebrand  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  striking  parallels. 

The  empire  and  the  church  were  to  measure 
strength.  Henry  IV  had  the  throne.  He  could 
summon  an  army,  but  Gregory  was  not  without 
weapons.  His  first  was  a  general  alliance  with 
the  people  of  the  North  of  Italy,  who  were  en- 
gaged in  a  democratic  movement.  But  more 
important  was  his  alliance,  more  or  less  open, 
with  the  German  princes,  subdued  by  Henry 
III,  but  very  restive  under  the  imperial  au- 
thority of  Henry  IV.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
this  weapon,  which  was  forged  by  Pope  Gregory 
to  smite  the  imperial  power,  became  afterward 
a  sword  in  the  hand  of  Martin  Luther  to  defy 
Eome  and  all  its  authorities.  But  the  pope 
needed  something  more  than  feudal  alliance, 
something  more  than  great  intellect,  and  even 
greater  personal  force.  This  other  weapon 
was  his  appeal  to  the  moral  sense  of  mankind. 
He  appeared  to  men  as  the  great  deliverer  of 
their  age.  He  sought  to  reform  the  manners 
and  the  morals  of  his  time.    No  age  is  so  cor- 

86 


PAPACY   AND   LIBERTY 

rupt  but  in  some  way  or  other  it  responds  to 
sainthood.  This  holy  man  wished  to  make  the 
clergy  holy.  The  laity  liked  that — they  always 
do.  Inasmuch  as  his  aims  were  chiefly  ecclesi- 
astical and  his  basis  was  reform,  he  appealed 
to  the  imagination  of  the  people  as  well  as  to 
the  interest  of  German  princes. 

The  emperor  upon  his  journey  had  re- 
ceived tokens  in  sufficient  number  of  the 
conditions  of  the  empire  behind  him  and 
the  dangers  which  were  threatening  that 
he  did  not  need  the  advice  said  to  have 
been  given,  nor  the  influence  exercised  by 
the  men  of  Cluny,  to  secure  his  submission. 
Pope  Gregory  had  taken  refuge  in  Canossa,  in 
the  castle  of  a  noble  lady.  Thither  came 
Henry,  and  reached  the  place  January  25,  1077. 
But  it  was  not  with  an  army  to  batter  down  the 
walls  of  the  castle,  nor  was  it  with  proclama- 
tions of  deposition  of  the  Holy  Father,  nor  with 
assertions  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  im- 
perial state.  He  had  discovered  that  in  order 
to  keep  his  crown  he  must  submit  to  the  head 
of  the  church  and  obtain  his  pardon.  Clad  in 
white,  as  became  a  penitent,  and  barefooted,  so 
the  story  goes,  he  walked  in  the  snow,  to  and 
fro,  for  four  successive  days,  asking  an  audi- 
ence, only  to  be  refused.    At  the  end  of  the  four 

87 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

days'  penance  he  was  admitted,  forgiven — the 
personal  quarrel  was  over,  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  papacy  was  an  accomplished  fact. 

Gregory  VII  was  one  of  the  greatest  men  of 
his  century.  But  whatever  men  may  think  of 
the  right  or  wrong  of  this  particular  conflict, 
no  one  must  be  allowed  to  forget  that  it  was  the 
son  of  a  peasant  in  the  robes  of  the  church  who 
humiliated  an  emperor  and  the  son  of  an  em- 
peror. The  doctrines  of  Gregory  are  set  forth 
in  his  letters,  and  here  his  attack  upon  the  state 
is  based  upon  the  democratic  doctrine  that  the 
organization  of  the  state  prevents  equality 
among  men,  and  is  built  up  by  violence  and  in- 
justice. It  is  because  of  what  this  man  was  and 
what  he  fought  for  that  Canossa  looms  so  large 
in  human  history.  He  fought  for  the  holiness 
of  the  church  as  much  as  he  did  for  the  freedom 
of  the  church.  His  last  years  were  clouded. 
The  man  who  had  broken  social  and  political 
ties  had  yet  to  learn  that  organization  requires 
authority.  Moreover  he  utters  his  last  words 
at  Salerno:  "I  have  loved  justice  and  I  have 
hated  iniquity,  therefore  I  die  in  exile. ' ' 

German  princes  profited  by  the  triumph  of 
the  pope.  But  it  was  a  triumph  that  always 
rankled  in  the  Teutonic  heart.  The  princes 
wished  to  take  advantage  of  all  occasions  rather 

88 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

than  to  become  the  permanent  servants  of  the 
papal  power.  Yet  this  struggle  was  one  of  the 
turning  points  of  history.  In  a  later  conflict 
Count  Bismarck  said,  "We  will  not  go  to  Ca- 
nossa.,,  But  without  Canossa  there  had  been 
no  Luther,  no  Bismarck  and  no  modern  democ- 
racy. 

Just  one  hundred  years  later  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  soldier,  statesman,  and  every  inch  a 
king,  having  already  held  the  stirrup  for  Pope 
Adrian  IV,  was  compelled  to  recognize  the  free- 
dom of  the  cities  of  the  North  of  Italy  in  the 
Treaty  of  Venice.  He  recognized  Alexander 
III  as  the  rightful  pope,  for  there  had  been 
much  question  between  popes  and  anti-popes, 
and  the  proud  head  of  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire 
knelt  before  the  head  of  the  church  and  kissed 
his  feet.  There  is  even  a  story  that  the  pope 
placed  his  foot  upon  the  neck  of  the  emperor, 
quoting  the  words :    ' '  Thou  art  Peter. ' ' 

But  there  was  another  conflict  which  shows 
that  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire  was  not  the  only 
theater  for  those  perpetual  rivals,  King  and 
Priest.  Thomas  a  Becket  had  been  the  chief 
officer  of  the  crown,  but  he  preferred  to  become 
a  servant  of  the  church  and  rose  to  be  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  Many  were  the  conflicts 
which  this  man  carried  on  against  the  civil 

89 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

power  in  the  name  of  a  higher  authority. 
Henry  II  of  England  was  no  easy  man  to  deal 
with,  but  he  had  a  people  who  were  loyal  to  the 
church.  From  his  tent  in  France  there  came 
his  muttered  words,  "Will  no  one  rid  me  from 
that  turbulent  priest  !"  Some  knights,  over- 
hearing the  very  secular  prayer,  mounted 
horse  and  rode  away  to  perform  the  task. 
Shipping  to  Dover  once  again,  they  journeyed 
on,  assailed  the  gates  of  Canterbury,  clattered 
up  the  streets,  made  their  way  to  the  rear  of 
the  cathedral,  dragged  the  Archbishop  from  his 
rooms,  down  the  narrow  stairway,  and  slew  the 
troublesome  priest  before  the  very  altars  of  his 
faith. 

When  he  was  prepared  for  burial  it  was  dis- 
covered that  beneath  his  ecclesiastical  robes  he 
wore  the  hair  shirt  of  a  penitent.  The  crime 
shocked  England  and  Europe.  The  hair  shirt 
was  a  mark  of  sanctity.  Thomas  a  Becket  be- 
came a  martyr,  his  tomb  a  shrine,  and  the  king 
was  also  compelled  to  bow  to  the  authority 
which  he  had  sought  to  destroy.  He  made  his 
journey  to  Canterbury,  and  baring  his  back, 
with  bowed  head,  passed  between  two  rows  of 
monks,  who  beat  him  with  rods  until  the  flowing 
of  the  royal  blood  became  a  crimson  witness  to 
the   royal  crime.     Space  forbids  to  say  how 

90 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

much  this  shrine  had  to  do  with  making  Britain 
a  part  of  Europe,  and  now  the  crowds  of  pil- 
grims from  every  part  of  England,  meeting 
upon  the  roads,  deepened  its  social  life,  and 
how  out  of  it  all  the  genius  of  Chaucer  was 
kindled  to  write  the  Canterbury  Tales. 

It  is  impossible  to  treat  of  these  times  with- 
out some  reference  to  that  tremendous  move- 
ment called  the  Crusades,  which  for  some  two 
hundred  years  stirred  the  imagination  and  ar- 
rested the  attention  of  European  nations.  The 
logical  successor  to  the  work  of  Hildebrand  was 
Urban  II,  and  he  it  was  who  heard  the  appeal 
of  Alexis,  the  Byzantine  emperor,  who  sought 
aid  against  the  Mohammedans.  It  was  in 
France,  at  Clermont,  in  1095,  that  he  delivered 
an  address  calling  upon  Europe  to  make  an 
armed  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  to  rescue 
the  tomb  of  Jesus  from  the  hands  of  the  in- 
fidels. 

There  were  many  forces  behind  the  move- 
ment for  these  crusades.  The  preaching  of 
Peter  the  Hermit  is  popularly  supposed  to  have 
been  the  chief  reason  for  their  existence.  If  we 
may  believe  the  chronicles  about  him,  he  was  a 
man  of  fiery  eloquence,  and  he  actually  led  one 
division  of  troops  into  Asia  Minor.  But  neither 
Urban  nor  Peter,  nor  both  together,  could  have 

91 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

produced  such  a  movement  had  there  not  been 
social  conditions  which  made  the  thing  inevi- 
table. For  generations  the  conflict  between 
Jesus  and  Mahomet  for  the  possession  of 
Europe  had  gone  forward.  Nor  was  it  to 
cease  even  after  the  Crusades  had  spent  their 
force. 

The  struggle  of  pope  against  emperor,  with 
the  success  of  the  church,  had  been  followed  by 
a  religious  revival  that  had  reached  all  classes. 
People  and  princes  were  alike  ready  to  give 
way  to  religious  enthusiasm.  The  holy  war  was 
a  safe  method  of  giving  vent  to  the  military 
spirit,  while  it  ensured  the  final  salvation  of 
the  soul  of  the  warrior.  There  were  doubtless 
economic  reasons  on  the  part  of  the  traders  as 
well  as  political  reasons  that  assisted  in  the 
enterprise.  It  is  not  necessary  to  detail  the 
story  of  the  various  campaigns  during  the  two 
hundred  years.  Jerusalem  was  won  and  lost. 
The  wave  of  enthusiasm  rolled  back  again  into 
the  heart  of  Europe  and  new  enterprises  were 
to  engage  the  souls  of  men. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  appraise  historical 
movements  and  to  write  with  a  sure  hand  of 
the  certain  results  that  follow  certain  incidents, 
however  great  they  may  be.  It  has  been 
so  in  dealing  with  the  results  of  the  Crusades. 

92 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

Whether  the  sacrifice  of  kings  and  nobles  upon 
the  various  battlefields  caused  the  weakening 
of  feudalism  or  not,  they  certainly  hastened  its 
dissolution.  Politically,  France  benefited  be- 
cause it  was  the  leader  in  the  movement.  The 
papacy  increased  and  consolidated  its  power 
because  it  had  appealed  to  a  motive  that  seemed 
sacred,  and  men  could  not  fight  for  the  Cross 
save  under  the  patronage  and  with  the  blessing 
of  the  church.  The  romances  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott  have  much  to  say  of  the  learning  and 
courtesy  of  the  men  of  the  East.  Doubtless 
some  things  were  brought  back  to  make  for  in- 
crease of  human  knowledge.  Such  facts,  how- 
ever, were  quite  incidental. 

Teachers  of  social  science  bid  us  believe  that 
much  comes  from  the  conflict  of  social  groups 
as  well  as  from  their  cooperation.  This  mili- 
tant movement  is  chiefly  important  for  its  effect 
upon  the  internal  life  of  Europe.  It  no  doubt 
enlarged  knowledge.  It  set  free  the  spirit  of 
adventure.  It  satisfied  curiosity.  These  were 
particular  results.  It  sanctified  new  methods 
of  taxation  that  were  to  continue  and  to  have 
their  influence  upon  the  rise  and  importance 
of  national  governments.  But  it  did  more.  It 
pervaded  all  ranks  of  men  with  a  common  pur- 
pose.   It  struck  down  the  provincialism  of  Ger- 

93 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

mans,  of  Frenchmen,  of  Italians  and  of  Britons. 
Under  the  standards  of  religion,  with  whatever 
difference  of  speech  or  customs,  they  had  be- 
come one  people,  and  were  all  fighting  in  one 
cause.  Incidentally  this  seemed  to  contribute 
chiefly  to  the  prestige  of  the  church.  But  in 
fact  it  was  the  recognition  of  a  common  human 
interest  that  tended  to  level  all  class  distinc- 
tions in  society.  More  than  the  depletion  of 
the  nobility,  or  the  death  of  kings,  or  the  growth 
of  free  cities,  was  this  common  human  passion 
the  interpretation  of  the  great  religious  move- 
ment, and  its  vindication  to  history. 

The  culmination  of  the  power  of  the  papacy 
occurred  under  Pope  Innocent  III,  who  suc- 
ceeded in  making  real  all  the  dreams  of  Hilde- 
brand.  It  was  he  who  declared,  "The  pope  is 
above  the  secular  power,  as  Christ  is  above 
Caesar,  or  the  soul  above  the  body,  or  time  less 
than  eternity."  He  set  up  kings,  decided  al- 
liances, compelled  and  revoked  marriages,  and 
freed  subjects  from  their  allegiance  to  their 
sovereigns.  For  a  century  the  papacy  main- 
tained its  place  at  the  head  of  the  world.  The 
climax  of  its  claims  is  in  the  bull  of  Boniface 
VIII,  called  "Unam  Sanctam."  There  is  one 
holy  church  and  it  has  two  swords.  Every  man 
must  submit  in  secular  as  well  as  in  religious 

94 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

affairs  or  prepare  for  damnation  in  this  world 
and  in  the  next. 

For  our  problem  of  democracy,  the  scene 
changes  to  England  and,  under  the  rule  of  King 
John,  Innocent  III  had  consecrated  Stephen 
Langton  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  but  the 
king  for  six  years  prevented  his  accession  to 
his  office.  Langton  was  a  man  of  the  most  va- 
ried gifts,  scholar,  theologian,  poet,  and  a  man 
of  affairs.  The  form  of  the  political  conflict 
in  England  was  between  the  barons  and  the 
throne.  It  was  a  question  fundamentally  of 
despotism  against  constitutional  government. 
King  John  started  upon  a  campaign  against  his 
barons  in  the  North  of  England,  but  was  over- 
taken by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at 
Northampton,  who  attempted,  without  success, 
to  persuade  him  to  make  concessions. 

These  men  were  to  meet  again,  and  it  was 
at  Runnymede,  a  few  miles  south  of  London, 
in  1215.  By  this  time  the  victory  for  constitu- 
tional government  was  won,  and  they  met  here 
to  settle  the  terms  of  peace.  Stephen  Langton 
had  organized  the  strength  of  the  nation  with 
consummate  skill,  and  was  the  moving  spirit 
of  the  occasion.  The  Magna  Charta  was  the 
document  resulting  from  the  convocation.  It  is 
usually  spoken  of  as  a  concession  to  the  barons, 

95 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

but  the  barons  never  could  have  won  it  without 
the  church.  This  great  document,  the  real  be- 
ginning of  modern  constitutional  liberty,  and 
the  foundation  of  every  subsequent  campaign 
for  the  rights  of  men,  begins  with  these  words : 
11  John,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  England, 
to  the  Archbishop,  bishops,  abbots,  earls  and 
barons.' '  In  the  rank  of  those  days  even  an 
abbot  came  before  an  earl,  but  it  was  Langton's 
personality  that  made  the  victory  possible.  The 
sixty-third  paragraph  of  the  charter  is  itself  a 
revelation  in  the  statement,  "Wherefore  we  will 
and  firmly  decree  that  the  English  church  shall 
be  free,  and  that  the  subjects  of  our  realm  shall 
have  and  hold  all  the  aforesaid  liberties." 

We  have  gone  far  afield  from  the  simple  be- 
ginning of  Christianity.  We  have  seen  the 
church  engaged  in  the  fierce  battles  of  world 
politics.  She  became  at  last  the  ruler  of  the 
earth.  While  she  set  up  one  ruler  and  pulled 
down  another,  none  could  stay  her  hand  or  say, 
What  doest  thou?  During  the  long  generations 
the  attitude  of  the  church  was  by  no  means 
consistent.  Nor  was  the  political  policy  of  one 
pope  identical  with  that  of  his  successors.  The 
cleavage  between  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine 
and  the  working  policy  of  the  church  had  be- 
come very  deep.    In  the  wreck  of  Eome  he  took 

96 


PAPACY   AND   LIBERTY 

refuge  in  an  ideal  city  and  a  hope  of  immor- 
tality. The  Rome  of  the  popes  embodied  the 
doctrine  of  a  corporate  and  earthly  immortal- 
ity, and  proposed  to  govern  the  world  existent 
as  well  as  to  hold  the  keys  to  the  gates  of  the 
world  hoped  for.  The  policy  of  the  church  in 
the  beginnings  of  her  power  was  to  seek  the 
patronage  of  emperors.  That  was  necessary  to 
temporal  power,  and  to  the  security  of  visible 
interests,  but  it  was  a  program  of  increasing 
dignity,  and  the  hand  which  crowned  emperors, 
to  secure  their  protection,  also  humbled  them 
when  they  were  not  obedient  to  the  papal 
will. 

The  fundamental  question  arises:  How  did 
the  church  secure  a  constituency  strong  enough 
to  resist  imperial  power,  and  to  grasp  the  prizes 
of  the  world?  It  was  manifestly  by  an  appeal 
to  the  people.  The  appeal  was  sometimes 
spiritual,  promising  to  the  faithful  good  in 
this  world  and  glory  in  a  better  world.  But 
sometimes  it  dealt  with  present  power  and  such 
bounties  as  could  be  seen  even  by  the  most 
worldly.  In  the  contests  from  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury onward  there  were  two  parties  among  the 
people,  the  one  was  named  the  Guelfs,  which 
was  the  popular  party — the  other  the  Ghibel- 
lines,  which  represented  imperial  power.  The 
8  97 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

questions  about  which  they  struggled  differed 
in  Germany  from  those  in  Italy.  Contests  of 
national  proportions  took  place,  but  there  were 
others  confined  to  factions  in  small  towns, 
where  the  quarrels  were  carried  on,  not  by 
armies,  but  by  mobs.  In  all  these  contests  as  a 
rule  the  church  allied  herself  with  the  party 
of  the  people — they  were  Guelf  s.  In  the  Magna 
Charta  of  England  is  seen  the  crowning  victory 
of  the  church.  It  was  not  alone  for  her  own 
freedom  that  she  fought,  but  for  the  freedom  of 
the  people.  Chapter  thirty-nine  declares :  "  No 
freeman  shall  be  arrested  or  detained  in  prison 
or  deprived  of  his  freehold,  or  in  any  way  mo- 
lested, unless  by  the  lawful  judgment  of  his 
peers  and  by  the  law  of  the  land. ' '  This  great 
declaration  makes  the  charter  the  foundation 
of  English  liberties,  as  well  as  of  the  liberties 
of  the  church,  and  of  the  rights  of  the  nobles. 
One  curious  provision  is  in  Chapter  fifty-five, 
which  provides  for  the  remission  of  unjust  fines. 
The  decision  on  these  matters  is  to  rest  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  greatest' 
lawyers  and  statesmen  in  England  have  com- 
bined in  regarding  this  document  as  a  revival 
of  ancient  privileges  which  had  been  taken 
away,  as  well  as  a  permanent  limitation  on 
the  power  of  the  throne  and  a  foundation  upon 

98 


PAPACY   AND    LIBERTY 

which  can  be  built  the  noble  structure  of  the 
rights  of  men. 

It  is  true  that  when  King  John,  in  doubt  of 
even  retaining  his  throne,  made  peace  with  the 
pope,  acknowledging  that  he  held  his  kingdom 
from  the  Eoman  See,  and  promised  a  yearly 
tribute  for  England  and  Ireland,  having  sur- 
rendered his  crown  to  the  papal  legate  only  to 
receive  it  back  again,  Pope  Innocent  annulled 
the  charter  and  suspended  Langton.  But  the 
work  had  been  too  well  done,  and  seven  years 
after  Langton  was  restored  to  his  rightful  po- 
sition as  head  of  the  church  of  England,  and 
the  charter  has  remained  one  of  the  great  foun- 
dations of  the  English  Constitution. 

The  development  of  history  was  surely  has- 
tening forward.  The  church  had  struck  down 
the  world  powers,  but  she  had  also  encouraged 
influences  from  which  later  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority was  to  suffer.  Nay,  the  time  was  to 
come  when  it  should  be  broken  in  pieces  to  show 
that  all  visible  organization  is  but  the  earthen 
vessel  containing  the  divine  treasure,  while  the 
excellency  of  the  power  is  of  God. 

A  great  king  reigned  in  France,  called  Philip 
the  Fair,  1285-1314.  He  quarreled  with  the 
papacy,  because  he  was  unwilling  to  see  his  own 
treasury  empty  and  great  church  properties 

99 


DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

free  of  taxation  in  every  part  of  his  kingdom. 
His  influence  secured  the  election  of  a  French- 
man, Clement  V,  to  the  papal  throne.  At  the 
behest  of  his  imperial  master  he  removed  the 
papal  residence  to  Avignon,  in  France,  and 
Kome  was  deserted  for  two  generations.  It 
was  called  "The  Seventy  Years  of  Captivity.' ! 
The  head  of  the  church  went  back  to  Rome  at 
length,  and  there  were  brilliant  epochs  in  its 
imperial  history,  but  since  that  long  captivity 
the  papacy  has  never  been  quite  the  same.  It 
was  a  prophecy  of  the  time  when  the  pope 
should  be  prisoner  in  his  palace  by  the  Tiber. 
Through  all  her  worldly  ambitions,  the 
tumult  of  war,  the  triumphs  and  defeats,  within 
her  bosom  the  church  was  always  carrying  the 
message  of  the  Master.  As  Hildebrand  was 
the  reformer  of  the  church  and  the  great  cham- 
pion of  papal  power,  so  there  was  to  arise  an- 
other man  of  a  very  different  order,  to  take 
once  again  a  few  grains  of  mustard  seed,  and 
fling  them  upon  the  earth  until  the  social  fields 
bloomed  with  gracious  harvests.  In  history  he 
is  called  St.  Francis. 


CHAPTER   IV 

SOCIAL  REVIVAL  IN  ITALY 

Defeated  saints  have  found  always  a  final 
stronghold  in  Mysticism.  It  stands  over  against 
the  world  of  action  quite  as  much  as  it  does 
against  the  domain  of  the  understanding,  and 
when  the  world  is  evil,  as  well  as  when  the  rea- 
son fails,  men  retreat  to  some  desert  to  com- 
mune with  their  own  souls  and  to  speak  with 
God.  If  the  church  is  chiefly  busy  with  its  own 
organization  and  forgets  its  great  tasks  in  the 
world,  once  again  the  saintly  soul  turns  away 
to  pray.  To  men  overwhelmed  with  the  sense 
of  the  common  evils  of  the  world,  too  foul  to 
be  cured,  and  the  problems  of  the  world,  too 
difficult  to  be  solved,  there  are  only  two  paths 
open,  and  one  of  them  leads  to  despair,  while 
the  other  conducts  the  feeble  feet  to  some  holy 
shrine.  Bernard,  as  well  as  Schopenhauer,  or 
any  disciple  of  his,  knew  how  bad  things  were, 
but  had  no  such  philosophy  as  Descartes,  a  kind 
of  optimism,  perhaps  better  sustained  by  good 
digestion  and   a  good  income  than   any  phi- 

101 


DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

losophy  that  was  ever  produced.     So  with  his 
watchings  and  his  fastings  the  saint  sings: 

' '  The  world  is  very  evil, 
The  times  are  waxing  late, 
Be  sober  and  keep  vigil, 
The  Judge  is  at  the  gate  \ 
The  Judge  who  comes  in  mercy, 
The  Judge  who  comes  with  might, 
Who  comes  to  end  the  evil, 
Who  comes  to  crown  the  right. ' ' 

In  times  when  new  knowledge  disturbs  the 
old  faith  it  is  the  mystic  who  saves  the  day.  If 
Hume  denies  miracles,  the  saint,  even  though 
vanquished  in  arguments,  flings  himself  before 
the  altars  of  religion  imploring  fresh  miracles 
of  grace.  If  Herbert  Spencer  leaves  only  the 
unknowable  as  the  foundation  of  religion,  that 
is  quite  enough,  for  on  the  islands  of  faith  still 
left  among  the  shining  seas  of  new  discovery  a 
fresh  vision  comes,  and  the  watcher  beholds  a 
form  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man.  If  criticism 
questions  some  facts,  insists  on  fresh  dates,  or 
uncrowns  traditional  authors  of  the  Bible,  the 
believer  remembers  that  "the  Kingdom  of  God 
is  within  you,"  and  he  reinforces  the  written 
word  by  one  within  the  soul, ' i  quick  and  power- 
ful and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword." 
Religion  may  take  many  forms.    It  is  a  funda- 

102 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

mental  fact  in  human  experience.  Research  and 
science  declare  that  it  has  been  a  part  of  the 
social  life  always.  It  continues  to  adapt  itself 
to  new  conditions  of  human  life,  dominates 
every  other  interest,  and  proclaims  itself  in- 
destructible. 

These  reformations  suggest  an  explanation  of 
Monasticism,  for  it  needs  an  explanation  since 
it  did  not  belong  to  the  original  faith.  Primi- 
tive Christianity  was  bright,  naive,  human. 
The  early  disciples  were  beaten  and  starved 
by  other  people;  they  did  not  have  to  mortify 
their  flesh  themselves.  The  message  of  Jesus 
was  to  the  world  in  the  open,  though  it  is  true 
he  had  selected  disciples  and  quiet  hours.  But 
he  rejected  fasting,  and  he  made  as  great  a  rep- 
utation for  the  convivial  life  among  his  con- 
temporaries as  did  Martin  Luther.  He  was  the 
natural  successor  of  those  choice  prophets  of 
hope  who  had  declared  that  fastings  and  obser- 
vations were  to  give  way  to  good  deeds.  No 
longer  should  a  man  afflict  his  soul  and  bow 
down  his  head  as  a  bulrush,  rather  should  he 
deal  his  bread  to  the  hungry  and  clothe  the 
naked ;  for  such  a  man  the  light  breaks  forth  as 
the  morning,  and  he  is  guarded  by  the  glory  of 
God.1 

1  Isaiah  58 :  5-8. 

103 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Though  the  eager  preachers  of  the  good  news, 
with  their  stalwart  faith  in  a  risen  Jesus,  find 
such  a  delight  in  life  that  they  even  glory  in 
tribulation,  there  always  remains  in  human  na- 
ture a  certain  element  to  which  a  life  of  seclu- 
sion could  appeal.  It  was  not  christian,  and  yet 
it  was  human.  The  Monastic  life  was  oriental. 
There  were  monks  in  India  hundreds  of  years 
before  Christ.  It  is  said  that,  when  the  Eoman 
Catholic  missionaries  first  saw  the  Buddhist 
monasteries  of  Thibet,  they  thought  that  their 
own  methods,  vestments,  and  ceremonies  had 
been  imitated  by  the  Devil.  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  early  Christian  monastery  was  of  the 
hermit  type  and  began  in  Egypt.  It  was  the 
triumph  of  individualism.  Men  fled  the  world 
to  save  their  own  souls. 

The  church  fathers  praised  the  ascetic  life 
which  Jesus  never  taught,  just  as  they  made 
the  mistake  of  interpreting  too  literally  the  doc- 
trine of  giving  to  the  poor,  robbing  multitudes 
of  self-help  through  exertion,  and  so  of  pos- 
sible strength  to  grow.  By  the  beginning  of 
the  fourth  century  the  new  form  of  life  became 
well  established  near  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  St. 
Anthony  is  the  name  about  which  all  the  primi- 
tive tradition  clusters.  Athanasius  says  of 
him:    "St.  Anthony  was  never  guilty  of  wash- 

104 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN    ITALY 

ing  his  feet."  It  is  not  in  the  eccentricities  of 
hermits,  nor  in  the  more  showy  examples  of  pil- 
lar saints,  like  Simeon  of  Antioch,  that  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  monastic  order  for  history  is 
disclosed. 

When  the  monastic  life  reached  Europe  it 
was  certain  to  be  something  different  from  its 
oriental  prototype.  The  order  founded  by  St. 
Benedict  in  516  endeavored  to  organize  an  in- 
stinct, control  a  motive,  and  make  them  both 
rational  in  a  serviceable  institution.  He  estab- 
lished a  rule  for  the  brothers  who  were  to  come 
together,  but  no  monk  was  to  rival  another  in 
self-denial.  It  was  a  community  life  he  pro- 
posed to  create.  The  three  notes  of  his  rules 
were:  worship,  work  and  study.  The  rules  of 
the  order  were  as  binding  upon  the  abbot,  or 
the  head  of  the  house,  as  upon  any  other  mem- 
ber. He  proposed  a  rule  of  law  and  not  of  per- 
sonal desire  or  will.  He  bound  his  people  to 
their  house  and  to  one  another  for  life.  It 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  great  development, 
not  the  church,  truly,  but  its  most  important 
by-product. 

On  the  positive  side  the  new  institution  was 
of  great  value.  These  Benedictines  worked  like 
peasants  in  the  fields,  and  yet  came  after  a  time 
to  rule  like  princes.    They  took  places  that  were 

105 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

like  the  wilderness  and  made  them  blossom  like 
the  garden  of  the  Lord.  They  developed  archi- 
tecture and  then  themselves  became  artists  and 
scholars,  bequeathing  priceless  treasures  to  the 
after  ages.  The  monk  at  his  best  was  a  new 
and  fine  type  of  man.  His  vows  of  obedience, 
poverty  and  chastity  separated  him  from  the 
perennial  desires  of  life.  As  worshiper,  la- 
borer and  scholar  he  united  the  three  great 
functions  that  exalt  human  nature.  He  was 
himself  a  glorified  democrat.  Fundamentally 
he  had  no  political  or  social  significance,  yet 
he  came  to  shape  the  policy  of  nations  and  to 
change  the  occupations  of  thrones.  The  peas- 
ant serf  saw  him  toil  with  his  own  hands,  and 
knew  that  labor  was  noble.  The  order  and 
beauty  of  the  institutions  spread  by  imitation 
from  estate  to  estate. 

These  monks  built  roads,  opened  fields,  cre- 
ated houses  as  if  by  magic,  and  wherever  they 
went  carried  civilization.  But  it  became  an 
easy  life  for  the  unworthy.  They  became 
wealthy,  not  alone  by  their  own  labor,  but  by 
the  gifts  of  the  rich  and  the  great.  Their 
houses  were  given  special  charters.  They  were 
generally  set  free  from  burdens  of  taxation.  It 
was  all  too  good  to  be  true,  and  so  after  a  time 
these  houses  became  degraded  both  in  character 

106 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL    IN    ITALY 

and  in  morals.  New  institutions  were  founded 
to  meet  new  needs.  As  St.  Dominic  established 
a  preaching  order  to  combat  heresy,  and  Lo- 
yola, general  of  the  Jesuits,  developed  a  mili- 
tary order,  which  was  to  save  the  church  reeling 
under  the  blows  of  the  reformers,  so  in  the  vari- 
ous ages,  when  it  seemed  that  the  monastic  life 
had  descended  to  a  contemptible  level,  great 
men  would  arise  to  promote  reform  and  to  fur- 
nish new  vitality. 

Such  a  man  was  Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  He 
wished  his  abbey  to  be  simple,  declared  in  favor 
of  plain  churches,  and  forms  of  worship  less 
ornate.  The  Cistercian  monks  were  reformers 
within  the  brotherhood  of  St.  Benedict.  He 
would  have  a  more  ascetic  discipline.  He  won 
reputation  as  a  saint  because  he  afflicted  his 
body  to  such  an  extent  that  he  broke  his  health. 
Descended  from  a  noble  family,  and  renouncing 
all  worldly  aggrandizement,  his  unearthly  char- 
acter gave  him  a  superhuman  power.  Though 
not  so  learned  as  Abelard,  he  had  the  advan- 
tage of  being  a  saint.  Abelard  might  match 
him  in  argument,  but  he  was  bound  to  be  van- 
quished in  the  controversy.  With  his  spare 
figure,  his  lustrous  eyes,  and  his  tremendous 
will,  he  went  to  and  fro  as  occasion  required, 
rebuking,  with  unfaltering  voice,  princes,  popes 

107 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

and  kings.  In  his  time  he  was  doubtless  the 
most  powerful  man  in  Europe.  The  preacher 
was  greater  than  his  sermon,  the  ruler  was 
stronger  than  his  intellect.  He  represented 
sacrifice  as  the  climax  of  power. 

Great  monks  might  dominate  popes,  even  as 
they  compelled  emperors  to  submit  to  their  dic- 
tation, but  we  must  pause  a  moment  to  point 
out  the  relations  of  the  growth  of  monastic  or- 
ders to  the  development  of  papal  power.  These 
orders  became  international  in  character.  The 
abbot  was  independent  of  the  bishop  in  whose 
diocese  his  house  was  established.  When  an 
order  was  approved  by  the  pope  it  became  le- 
gitimate and  to  the  pope  it  owed  its  allegiance. 
The  ecclesiastical  importance,  therefore,  of 
these  houses  cannot  be  overestimated,  and  their 
influence  upon  society  was  equally  wide.  The 
poverty  of  the  individual  monk  increased  the 
corporate  wealth  of  the  institution,  so  that  the 
economic  success  of  the  monasteries  became  at 
last  a  most  fatal  weakness.  The  eye  of  the 
spoiler  was  forever  upon  them. 

The  life  of  history  lies  deeper  than  its  exter- 
nal manifestations.  We  have  seen  that  the  au- 
thority of  the  church  had  won  its  victory.  The 
power  of  popes  and  councils  seems  established 
beyond  any  further  question,  and  Eome  finds 

108 


SOCIAL   REVIVAL    IN   ITALY 

herself  the  mistress  of  the  world.  Her  external 
power  had  humbled  the  authorities  of  the  state 
everywhere.  The  church  had  produced  reform- 
ers like  Hildebrand  and  saints  like  Bernard, 
but  though  her  treasuries  were  glutted  with  the 
wealth  of  the  world,  and  from  her  hand  of 
power  she  bestowed  crowns  upon  her  favorite 
sons,  once  again  it  was  found  that  ecclesiastical 
organization  and  authority  were  not  enough  to 
restrain  men's  passions,  to  establish  justice  in 
the  world,  or  to  make  visible  the  great  brother- 
hood, forerunner  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  old  order  was  changing.  Towns  and  cit- 
ies were  increasing  in  population  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  church  was  not  adequate  to 
meet  the  new  conditions.  It  had  been  based 
upon  the  old  Roman  organization,  had  been 
modified  to  conform  to  the  development  of  the 
feudal  system,  and  neither  parish  functionaries 
nor  the  distribution  of  their  funds  were  ade- 
quate for  the  fresh  tasks.  The  monasteries,  as 
we  have  seen,  from  time  to  time  received  into 
their  cloisters  not  only  men  who  were  eager  to 
escape  from  the  world  and  their  sins,  but  num- 
bers who  were  eager  to  share  the  wealth  and 
luxury  which  existed  within  the  holy  walls.  In 
spite  of  all  that  had  been  done  in  the  great 
movement  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  moral 

109 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

condition  of  the  clergy  was  very  low,  and  the 
religions  standards  among  the  people  were  even 
more  degraded. 

It  was  necessary  that  something  else  should 
happen.  Over  against  the  monks  in  their  se- 
clusion and  the  parish  priests  in  their  incapac- 
ity and  self-indulgence,  there  arose  the  great 
mendicant  orders.  The  members  of  them 
earned  the  name  of  friar,  because  they  were 
brothers  of  the  people.  It  is  enough  to  speak 
particularly  of  two  of  these  brotherhoods,  the 
Dominican  and  the  Franciscan  orders. 

Various  forms  of  Puritanism  have  arisen  as 
protest  against  social  sins.  It  was  so  in  these 
times.  The  Albigenses  represented  a  popular 
movement  for  moral  reform  outside  of  the 
church,  lasting  from  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century  for  three  hundred  years.  Its 
notable  successes  were  in  the  South  of  France. 
The  strength  of  its  leaders  among  the  people 
lay  always  in  their  ascetic  practice.  The  Wal- 
denses,  continuing  to  our  time,  later  in  origin 
than  the  Albigenses,  seem  to  have  worked  from 
practically  the  same  point  of  view.  It  was  at 
first  a  form  of  Puritanism,  existing  within  the 
church,  and  then  became  schismatic.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  these  unauthorized  and  unrecog- 
nized movements  helped  Hildebrand  in  the  work 

110 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL    IN    ITALY 

of  reformation.  So  long  as  the  Puritans  re- 
mained within  the  church  and  did  not  attack  its 
doctrines  or  its  organization,  no  trouble  arose. 
But  Puritanism,  insistent,  reformatory,  com- 
pelling, was  a  danger  to  be  repressed.  Hence 
the  movement  by  St.  Dominic  and  his  associates 
accepted  by  the  pope  in  1216,  after  a  dozen 
years  of  vigorous  controversy  with  the  Albi- 
genses,  whom  he  convicted  of  heresy  though  he 
found  it  impossible  to  convince  them. 

Innocent  III  had  already  identified  heresy 
and  treason  and  in  1223  Gregory  IX  employed 
the  Dominicans  as  his  personal  commissioners 
to  visit  all  suspected  dioceses  and  inquire  into 
the  condition  of  the  faith.  Hence  the  later  term 
"  Inquisition. ' '  The  early  methods  seem  to 
have  been  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  time 
irreproachable.  The  instrument  was  the  ser- 
mon, the  object  was  submission,  and  penance 
was  reserved  for  the  obstinate.  This  instru- 
ment continued  until  it  flowered  out  in  Spain 
under  the  infamous  Torquemada  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  where  the  organization  became  supe- 
rior to  all  ecclesiastical  authority  as  well  as  to 
secular  government,  and  during  more  than  one 
hundred  years  wrote  one  of  the  blackest  chap- 
ters in  religious  history.  It  was  very  far  from 
the  early  plan  of  Dominic,  who  proposed  that 

111 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

his  companions  should  have  no  duties  but  to 
study  and  to  preach;  the  care  of  no  parishes 
and  the  possession  of  no  property.  Torque- 
mada  was  the  Nero  of  the  church,  intoxicated 
with  blood  instead  of  wine  and  mad  through  the 
lust  of  power. 

Revivals  of  religion  are  not  confined  to  mod- 
ern times,  nor  even  to  Christian  history.  Among 
savage  tribes  forms  of  what  we  know  as  ec- 
stacy  are  not  uncommon.  East  India  was  al- 
ways full  of  such  wonders,  and  the  Greek  and 
Roman  cataleptic  phenomena  are  well  known. 
But  religious  revival  is  not  all  hysteria,  though 
often  accompanied  by  signs  and  wonders.  The 
greatest  leaders  of  revivals,  such  as  Paul  and 
Wesley,  have  always  discouraged  excesses.  To 
Paul  the  sacred  gifts  were  always  to  be  subject 
to  the  wisdom  of  the  recipient.  And  Wesley  de- 
nounced the  fainting  fits  of  his  converts  as  be- 
ing no  sign  of  grace  but  rather  evidence  of  the 
possession  of  the  Devil.  The  truth  is  that  forms 
of  social  hysteria  are  not  confined  to  religious 
subjects.  The  war  dances  and  the  hunting 
dances,  as  well  as  religious  festivals,  were  ac- 
companied by  pathological  emotions.  Indeed 
revivals  were  not  confined  to  religion,  even  re- 
vivals in  the  best  sense.  There  are  revivals  of 
trade  as  well  as  revivals  of  learning.    Human 

112 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

history,  like  the  world  of  nature,  has  its  gift 
of  seasons.  Social  development  is  not  a  monot- 
onous upward  progress.  It  has  its  fields  of  ice 
and  snow,  its  spring  freshets,  its  joyous  spring- 
time, and  its  rich  harvests.  "Whenever  human 
life  and  history  seem  at  their  worst  it  is  the 
moment  for  the  prophet  and  he  may  safely 
preach  glad  tidings.  Action  and  reaction  is 
the  method  of  the  historical  process,  but  with 
it  all  the  tides  of  life  are  forever  seeking  higher 
levels. 

The  thirteenth  century  found  that  it  had  ex- 
hausted ecclesiastical  organization.  Men  had 
discovered  that  a  church  might  be  enthroned 
and  at  the  same  time  be  debased.  From  the 
Tiber  her  lines  of  power  had  gone  out  into  all 
the  earth,  but  miracles  of  mercy  were  ceasing. 
To  the  poor  the  gospel  was  not  preached,  while 
place  and  power  satisfied  human  ambition.  The 
great  evangel  did  not  minister  to  human  needs. 

If  there  was  permanent  life,  the  life  of  Jesus 
in  the  soul  of  the  church,  the  time  had  come  for 
some  fresh  manifestation  of  its  presence  and 
its  power.  It  was  in  the  year  1182,  in  a  village 
in  the  North  of  Italy,  that  a  child  was  born  who 
was  to  fill  a  strange  place  in  his  generation, 
and  to  become  known  among  all  men  of  every 
creed  as  St.  Francis  d'Assisi.  All  classes  of 
9  113 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

men,  the  secular,  the  Koman  Catholic,  and  the 
Protestant,  unite  to  do  him  honor.  He  gave 
the  world  no  new  theology.  His  brotherhood 
had  scarcely  any  more  organization  in  his  time 
than  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  His  movement  was 
a  new  manifestation  of  love.  Bonaventura  calls 
him,  "Another  angel  ascending  from  the  sun- 
rise and  bearing  the  Seal  of  the  living  God." 
But  he  was  something  quite  other  than  this 
dramatic  representation  of  his  great  follower. 
The  world  has  always  refused  to  part  with  its 
treasures  of  truth,  of  beauty,  and  of  goodness. 
The  seed  of  the  kingdom  which  the  church  car- 
ried down  through  the  ages  was  vital  with  a 
perpetual  life.  In  succeeding  generations  it 
fell  upon  new  soil  which  bore  fresh  harvest. 
The  doctrine  of  the  movement  we  are  consider- 
ing was  more  like  that  of  Count  Tolstoi  than 
that  of  any  other  modern  man.  When  a 
thought  of  brotherhood  fell  into  the  soul  of  St. 
Francis  it  sprang  up  in  a  beauty  never  seen 
since  the  days  of  the  Master  himself.  Tolstoi 
had  much  to  say  about  the  need  of  the  gospel, 
and  was  a  great  interpreter  of  it.  St.  Francis 
had  no  gift  of  intellect,  but  whatever  of  the 
gospel  he  understood  grew  through  him  into 
winsome  life. 

A  portrait  is  preserved  of  St.   Francis  in 
114 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL    IN   ITALY 

which  you  see  a  man  short  and  meager  in  fig- 
ure, with  beard  and  mustache,  the  common  face 
illumined  by  great  mysterious  eyes  which  seem 
to  have  looked  into  the  very  heart  of  things. 
The  lower  part  of  the  forehead  is  full,  showing 
that  the  man  was  twofold  and  had  eager  per- 
ceptives  to  correct  his  mysticism.  He  is  clad 
in  a  coarse  garb  and  his  feet  are  bare.  There 
is  no  beauty  in  him  that  men  should  desire  him. 
So  much  legend  has  grown  up  about  the  career 
of  St.  Francis  that  it  is  difficult  always  to 
understand  rightly.  Some  of  his  own  people 
wished  to  paint  his  early  life  as  profligate  in 
order  to  show  him  the  more  a  miracle  of  grace. 
He  was  given  to  eating  and  drinking  and  very 
fond  of  rich  clothing,  so  say  the  "  Three  Com- 
panions.' '  On  the  other  hand,  Bonaventura 
said  he  was  not  wanton  or  greedy,  but  showed  a 
certain  generous  compassion  for  the  poor.  We 
know  that  his  father  was  a  merchant  of  good 
position  who  desired  his  son  to  follow  his  busi- 
ness, and  that  the  boy  was  attractive,  poetic 
and  shrewd. 

The  truth  doubtless  lies  between  the  two 
views.  He  was  no  saint  in  his  youth,  nor  was 
he  a  great  sinner.  That  he  had  a  gift  of  poetry 
which  wrote  itself  in  the  deeds  of  love  rather 
than  upon  the  pages  of  verse  there  can  be  no 

115 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

doubt.  The  stir  of  action  was  in  him.  It  was 
not  that  he  desired  the  possession  of  more  and 
richer  wares  than  his  father  had,  but  when  the 
service  of  a  rich  count  was  offered  him,  he  was 
bent  upon  riding  away  to  a  nobler  life,  gar- 
nished with  chivalrous  deeds.  A  vision  called 
him  from  possible  knighthood,  according  to  this 
world,  to  a  career  of  glory,  beyond  all  worlds. 

Had  St.  Francis  been  only  the  greatest  of  all 
mystics  he  would  have  left  behind  him  a  white 
light  in  the  world.  But  he  was  very  much  more. 
He  was  gifted  in  a  rare  degree  with  a  genius 
for  organization,  and  he  left  the  legacy  of  a 
great  human  movement.  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  the  genius  for  reflection  and  the  genius  for 
action  are  not  usually  found  in  the  same  man, 
but  still  more  seldom  do  we  find  the  man  of 
supreme  soul-consciousness  who  is  also  the  man 
of  action.  This  saint  of  all  the  ages  was  not 
only  the  supreme  mystic,  but  he  also  knew  what 
was  in  men  and  how  to  evoke  from  them  their 
noblest  qualities.  He  had  a  power  over  his  as- 
sociates that  may  be  imperfectly  expressed  by 
that  much  abused  word,  hypnotic.  It  was  not 
the  drive  of  a  supreme  will.  It  was  rather  the 
fascination  of  a  supreme  soul.  He  was  a  saint. 
The  church  'has  said  so  and  the  voices  of  all 
men  place  him  in  the  world 's  calendar.    But  he 

116 


SOCIAL   REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

was  not  austere.  He  had  a  profound  love  for 
his  fellowmen,  and  his  love  was  as  catholic  as 
that  of  Jesus.  It  embraced  all  classes.  He  was 
not  a  man  of  the  people  alone.  He  loved  the 
fields,  the  flowers  and  the  mountains.  It  is  not 
strange  that  the  legend  has  grown  up  that  he 
preached  a  sermon  to  the  birds,  who  stopped 
their  own  songs  to  listen  to  a  sweeter  voice. 

It  was  a  time  of  visions.  Angels  and  devils 
fought  for  men's  souls.  In  the  midst  of  an  age 
of  social  chaos  and  rampant  evils  religion  in 
quiet  places  assumed  unearthly  garments.  Like 
the  first  patriarchs  upon  the  Plains  of  Pales- 
tine, selected  souls  kept  company  with  angels. 

St.  Francis,  too,  had  his  celestial  friends  and 
enemies,  but  some  visions  came  to  him  of  quite 
another  quality.  The  first  revelation  out  of 
heaven  came  upon  him  in  sleep  and  sounded  all 
the  depths  of  earthly  misery.  A  pitiable  leper 
drew  near  to  him  in  his  dream  and  the  young 
man  kissed  his  bleeding  hand.  The  leper  van- 
ished but  the  interview  was  photographed  upon 
the  soul  of  the  sleeper.  The  a*bpeal  was  to  the 
imagination  of  the  man  as  well  as  to  his  heart, 
for  the  mind  of  St.  Francis  worked  in  pictures. 
This  was  a  culmination  doubtless  of  many  im- 
pressions, waking  and  sleeping.  When  the 
morning  came  St.  Francis  exchanged  his  goodly 

117 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

raiment  for  rags,  and  from  dawn  until  dark  he 
was  companion  to  the  beggars  who,  in  those 
times,  thronged  the  doors  of  the  church.  This 
was  the  first' apparition  cff  the  greatest  apostle 
of  his  age  and  the  beginning  of  his  vocation. 

The  man  was  to  fight  great  battles,  but  after 
a  different  fashion  from  that  in  which  any  fight- 
ing has  been  done  since  the  world  began.  The 
gateways  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  seemed 
lost.  Indeed  there  was  no  visible  road  leading 
thitherward.  But  this  man  became  as  a  little 
child  and  so  entered  in.  We  do  not  know  much 
of  the  attitude  of  the  personal  friends  of  Jesus 
toward  his  teaching  after  he  left  the  world. 
Paul  so  fills  the  whole  canvas  of  apostolic  his- 
tory that,  though  others  are  visible,  they  are 
not  seen  distinctly.  It  seems  clear  that  even 
Paul,  with  all  his  self-sacrifice  and  enthusiasm, 
never  understood  the  message  of  Jesus  so  com- 
pletely as  did  St.  Francis. 

Eenouncing  his  claim  upon  his  father's  for- 
tune, he  began  to  preach  by  the  wayside,  in  the 
streets,  wherever  a  few  men  were  gathered  to- 
gether. He  did  not  know  it  was  preaching.  He 
was  only  speaking  the  word  warm  from  his  own 
heart.  So  far  as  we  can  see  there  was  no  fore- 
thought, no  purpose  in  the  movement,  but  it 
gathered  force  everywhere.    A  few  men  became 

118 


SOCIAL   REVIVAL   IN    ITALY 

his  disciples.  It  was  the  old,  old  story.  The 
world  will  always  respond  to  what  it  feels  is  a 
spiritual  reality.  The  bad  and  worn-out  world 
was  hungry  for  some  living  message.  It  was 
found  upon  his  lips.  There  was  never  any 
break  on  the  part  of  St.  Francis  with  the 
church.  He  always  recognized  its  organization 
and  its  authority.  One  day  attending  service 
he  heard  the  gospel  read  where  Christ  sent  out 
the  seventy  by  two  and  two.  This  scripture 
was  the  real  charter  of  his  order.  He  was 
struck  with  the  fact  that  they  were  willing  to 
be  poor  and  to  find  their  bread  among  those 
who  heard  their  message.  He  regarded  the 
ancient  method  as  one  of  universal  application, 
and  with  enthusiasm  he  taught  his  first  con- 
verts they  must  give  up  staff  and  money  and 
also  superfluous  clothing.  He  wished  for  di- 
vine guidance  and  he  sought  it  in  the  book  of 
the  gospels.  With  shut  eyes  he  opened  the  vol- 
ume thrice,  after  the  manner  of  those  who  be- 
lieved that  the  accidental  passage  is  the  finger- 
post of  divine  guidance.  The  first  passage 
which  the  hand  touched  was  the  story  of  the 
rich  young  man  and  the  words  which  burned' 
into  his  soul  were:  "If  thou  wouldst  be  per- 
fect, go,  sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the 
poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven, 

119 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

and  come  and  follow  me."  The  second  passage 
was  the  commission  to  the  disciples,  "Take 
nothing  for  yonr  journey,  neither  staves,  nor 
scrip,  neither  bread,  neither  money,  neither 
have  two  coats  apiece.' *  The  third  time  the 
magical  chance  was  invoked  and  now  the  man 
read:  "Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples,  if 
any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me.  For 
whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and 
whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it."  The  rule  of  the  order  had  been  dis- 
covered. These  words,  by  no  means  the  com- 
plete message  of  Jesus,  but  very  central  to  his 
teaching  and  largely  neglected  throughout  all 
the  world,  became  the  great  revelation  of  God 
to  that  generation. 

For  a  thousand  years  men  within  the  church 
had  been  taking  vows  of  poverty.  Though  they 
had  still  made  it  possible  for  their  successors  to 
live  in  comfort,  the  whole  monastic  movement 
was  founded  upon  the  idea  of  renunciation. 
St.  Francis  was  different.  Other  men  had 
talked  about  the  poor,  had  even  helped  them, 
but  he  shared  with  them  his  whole  life.  Other 
men  had  been  willing  to  make  the  great  sacri- 
fice of  giving  up  earthly  honors  and  worldly 
possessions.    This  man  regarded  the  surrender 

120 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

as  a  great  privilege.  Many  men  have  been 
wedded  to  their  professions.  Some  men  have 
gladly  given  their  lives  to  a  great  cause.  But 
there  is  a  picture  in  the  church  of  St.  Francis 
at  Assisi,  said  to  be  by  the  hand  of  Giotto,  of 
the  mystic  marriage  of  St.  Francis  with  Lady 
Poverty.  More  than  any  form  of  speech  does 
this  artistic  conception  reveal  the  spirit  with 
which  the  new  life  was  undertaken.  Not  even 
in  the  gospels  did  sacrifice  take  on  so  poetic  a 
form.  This  simple  life  was  not  for  him  some 
hard  though  necessary  duty.  It  was  a  life  of 
new  gladness.  He  loved  the  world  because  he 
loved  men,  and  he  loved  men  because  he  loved 
all  things.  Churchmen  took  an  interest  in  the 
new  gospel,  and  men  and  women  throughout 
the  North  of  Italy  made  it  the  chief  subject  of 
conversation.  The  priest,  Sylvester  of  Assisi, 
is  said  to  have  had  a  vision  of  a  cross  of  gold 
coming  from  the  mouth  of  St.  Francis,  and  by 
its  light  putting  to  flight  the  dragon.  This  was 
doubtless  a  contemporary  tribute  to  a  new  form 
of  eloquence. 

The  company  of  his  followers  grew  and  they 
went  everywhere  preaching  repentance  and  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom.  There  were  a  few  huts 
at  Portiuncula  surrounded  by  a  forest.  Here 
they  gathered  from  time  to  time  for  meditation, 

121 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

for  prayer,  and  for  receiving  instructions  from 
the  lowliest  master  that  had  ruled  among  men 
in  all  generations.  But  what  was  to  be  the  fu- 
ture of  the  movement?  Should  they  make  for 
themselves  a  home  near  Assisi  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  such  people  as  came  to  them?  Should 
they  betake  themselves  to  lonely  places,  having 
left  their  interpretation  of  life  to  work  its  way 
with  such  vitality  as  it  might  have  ?  Or  should 
they  decide  to  be  in  the  world  and  yet  not  of  the 
world,  and  to  show  the  great  daring  of  living 
among  men  engaged  in  earthly  occupations, 
while  they  themselves  felt  burning  within  them 
a  heavenly  mission?  A  few  disciples  retired 
with  him  and  in  the  Valley  of  Spoleto  upon 
these  questions  a  great  debate  took  place.  It 
was  the  old  debate  between  the  apostle  and  the 
hermit,  the  monk  and  the  man.  The  kindly 
vision  came  to  St.  Francis  with  an  interpreta- 
tion, according  to  Bonaventura,  and  as  the  re- 
sult of  it,  "He  chose  to  live  rather  for  all  men 
than  for  his  single  self. p '  The  spell  of  the  apos- 
tolic commission  was  still  upon  them.  They 
were  sent  forth  to  give  a  living  word  to  living 
men.  They  were  to  be  friars  and  not  monks. 
The  rule  had  been  founded  in  the  gospel.  The 
organization  was  completed  as  a  company  of 
friars  minor,  the  little  brothers  of  the  people. 

122 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

Hitherto  nothing  has  been  said  of  the  place 
of  woman  in  the  movements  of  the  church. 
There  is  no  place  more  sweet  and  clean  to  rank 
her  than  in  Assisi.  "When  St.  Francis  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  the  cathedral,  among  the  au- 
dience that  gathered  was  Clara  of  the  family  of 
Sciffi,  well  placed  in  rank  and  property.  She 
was  such  a  one  as  are  some  of  her  sex  in  our 
own  time,  who,  weary  of  the  useless  burden  of 
an  idle  life,  give  themselves  to  social  settle- 
ments or  other  work  among  the  poor.  It  was 
the  same  spirit  in  another  age.  The  wretched- 
ness of  a  life  of  luxury  was  laid  bare  to  her. 
The  beauty  of  love  and  service  was  revealed. 
For  her  also  there  was  a  new  birth,  and  for  her 
a  religious  vocation.  After  an  interview  in 
which  each  felt  the  divine  quality  of  the  other, 
it  was  arranged  that  on  the  night  of  Palm  Sun- 
day, 1212,  Clara  should  leave  her  father's  cas- 
tle, go  to  Portiuncula  and  take  the  vows  of  pov- 
erty and  service.  It  was  a  great  and  spiritual 
union  between  a  great  man  and  a  great  woman, 
in  a  greater  cause.  To  her  by  the  light  of  the 
candles  was  read  once  more  the  apostolic  com- 
mission. Kneeling  at  the  altar  her  luxuriant 
hair  was  cut  off,  and  a  short  time  after  she  had 
entered  a  house  of  Benedictine  nuns  to  wait  the 
open  doorway  of  her  own  mission.    Her  sister, 

123 


DEMOCRACY    AND    THE    CHURCH 

Agnes,  and  other  women  soon  joined  her  and 
the  Benedictines  gave  to  them  the  house  and 
chapel  of  St.  Damian.  The  women  nursed  the 
sick,  cared  for  the  poor,  though,  of  course,  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  adopt  the  mission- 
ary form  of  work  that  belonged  to  the  friars 
minor.  At  St.  Damian  was  founded  at  last  the 
order  of  "Poor  Ladies,"  under  the  leadership 
of  St.  Clara,  a  woman  of  personality  and  power 
only  second  to  that  of  Francis  himself.  When 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  generations  later,  organ- 
ized his  "Sisters  of  Charity,"  he  doubtless  had 
before  him  the  model  of  the  Franciscan  women. 
It  was  well  for  the  movement  that  this  second 
order  was  founded.  Men  make  theology  and 
create  institutions.  Women  experience  re- 
ligion, and  for  the  best  of  them  service  is  the 
highest  form  of  joy. 

The  work  grew.  Everywhere  that  St.  Fran- 
cis went  men  thought  of  the  joy  of  his  life 
rather  than  of  its  humility.  The  men  and 
women  of  the  North  of  Italy  have  often  shown 
the  temperament  for  religious  enthusiasm.  The 
great  revival  of  1219  throughout  Tuscany,  of 
which  St.  Francis  was  the  center,  differed  from 
the  other  revivals  chiefly  in  the  desire  to  share 
with  him  the  beauty  of  renunciation.  It  was  a 
repetition  of  the  same  spirit  that  in  the  apos- 

124 


SOCIAL   REVIVAL   IN   ITALY 

tolic  church  led  men  and  women  to  sell  their 
possessions  and  lay  the  price  at  the  feet  of  the 
apostles.  The  city  of  Florence  nearly  went  mad 
under  the  preaching  of  the  little  brother  of  the 
poor.  Husbands  and  wives  came  to  him  in  mul- 
titudes, wishing  to  separate  from  each  other 
and  break  up  their  homes  in  order  to  lead  the 
holy  and  useful  life  of  poverty  and  service. 
The  great  passion  was  well-nigh  universal. 
About  the  only  sane  man  among  them  was  the 
one  man  whose  personality  and  preaching  had 
awakened  the  emotional  stream.  He  bade  the 
men  and  women  return  to  their  homes  and  live, 
their  lives,  serving  God  in  their  daily  tasks,  but, 
as  a  result  of  the  movement,  he  established 
what  is  known  as  the  Third  Order,  the  Order  of 
Penance.  This  was  really  a  great  brotherhood 
within  the  church.  It  opened  with  a  novitiate ; 
it  was  followed  by  a  profession  of  faith,  and 
indicated  by  the  wearing  of  a  habit.  As  the 
simple  rule  of  the  first  order  was  a  pledge  to 
live  "In  obedience,  without  personal  posses- 
sion and  in  chastity, ' '  so  the  three  duties  of  the 
third  order  were,  "worship,  humility  and  char- 
ity. ' '  Some  of  the  great  men  and  women  of  the 
Eoman  church  have  been  enrolled  in  the  third 
order.  Among  them,  Louis  IX  of  France,  Lo- 
yola of  Spain,  Ferdinand  of  Castile,  St.  Vincent 

125 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

de  Paul,  and  Elizabeth  of  Hungary.  From  the 
days  of  the  seventy  sent  forth  by  the  Master 
on  an  evangelistic  tour  throughout  Palestine, 
until  the  most  recent  days  of  progress  within 
the  Protestant  churches,  the  laymen  have  al- 
ways been  significant  in  every  great  revival  of 
religion.  Ecclesiastics  write  books,  hold  coun- 
cils, develop  organizations,  but  the  people  are 
stirred  by  their  own  kind.  Wesley  sought  to 
make  preachers  of  them,  if  they  had  the  gift,  so 
Francis  sought  to  make  saints  of  them,  if  they 
had  the  vocation.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Leo 
XIII  in  our  times  should  have  issued  a  plea  for 
a  revival  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis. 

St.  Francis  was  undoubtedly  a  saint ;  but  was 
he  also  a  reformer?  He  brought  the  gospel 
back  again  and  made  it  at  home  in  lowly  places. 
He  was  the  companion  of  the  poor,  the  weak 
and  the  friendless.  But  it  would  not  have  been 
possible  for  him  to  have  been  a  reformer  in  the 
ordinary  sense  and  to  have  done  his  work. 
Jesus  sought  to  reform  men  rather  than  society, 
knowing  that  reformed  men  would  make  a  new 
world.  So  did  St.  Francis  carry  on  his  work. 
He  taught  no  community  of  goods.  He  did  not 
urge  that  the  poor  should  take  the  place  of  the 
rich,  nor  did  he  preach  the  leveling  of  social 
distinctions.     It  may  even  be  said  to  his  dis- 

126 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN    ITALY 

credit  that  he  made  no  formal  demands  for 
either  social  or  political  justice.  But  he  did 
more.  He  made  democracy  and  religion  identi- 
cal. He  sanctified  the  dress  of  the  common  peo- 
ple. Their  colloquial  language  was  the  medium 
for  his  sermons.  He  lingered  in  their  company 
because  he  loved  them.  He  did  not  so  much 
teach  the  doing  away  of  poverty  as  he  idealized 
it.  Lady  Poverty  was  consecrated,  honored  and 
espoused.  He  attacked  the  social  problem  in  a 
way  not  common  in  our  times.  He  made  the 
saint  shine  out  of  the  lowest  places.  He  was 
the  great  leader  against  that  egotism  which  is 
the  most  inveterate  enemy  of  human  progress. 
He  taught  his  companions  to  give  up  their  pos- 
sessions, simply  because  wealth  in  any  amount 
was  a  burden  and  a  hindrance.  It  was  not  a 
virtue  to  be  poor,  but  poverty  was  a  condition 
of  usefulness,  because  it  freed  a  man  from 
cares.  The  great  commission  of  Jesus  taught 
that  the  people  of  Palestine  could  be  trusted  to 
care  for  the  few  material  wants  of  those  who 
went  to  preach  among  them.  St.  Francis  be- 
lieved that  the  people  of  Italy  were  just  as  re- 
sponsive as  those  of  Palestine.  There  are 
stories  of  miracles  and  we  are  learning  that  it 
is  quite  possible  that  some  such  stories  in 
mediaeval  times  may  have  been  founded  upon 

127 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

fact,  just  as  similar  stories  in  modern  times 
often  are.  But  these  are  only  vagrant  inci- 
dents upon  the  outskirts  of  the  movement. 

His  order  multiplies,  and  he  sends  mission- 
aries to  various  parts  of  Europe  in  his  own 
day.  He  himself  goes  to  join  the  Crusaders. 
But  the  reports  are  vague  and  conflicting.  The 
story  is  that  he  joined  the  army  in  Egypt  and 
preached  there,  creating  the  most  profound  im- 
pression upon  them.  He  was  permitted  to  pass 
through  the  lines  and  to  preach  to  the  Saracens. 
Even  the  Sultan  came  to  hear  him.  He  seems 
to  have  had  the  belief  that  not  spears  and  bat- 
tle axes,  but  love  and  the  good  news,  were  re- 
quired to  conquer  the  infidel.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  permitted  to  pass  into  Syria  and  to  visit 
all  the  holy  places.  These  stories  are  accepted 
as  true  by  most  biographers,  but,  whether  they 
be  true  or  not,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the 
nature  of  the  legend  reveals  the  current  opinion 
of  the  man. 

His  relation  to  the  organized  church  in  the 
early  years  was  a  doubtful  one.  In  shrewd 
councils  the  advisers  of  the  pope  spoke  of  the 
danger  of  the  man,  and  the  difficulty  of  dealing 
with  his  case.  His  rule  received  at  length  the 
approval  of  Pope  Innocent  III  with  some  reser- 
vations for  ecclesiastical  control.     It  is  even 

128 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL   IN    ITALY 

said  that  the  pope  told  his  advisers  that  it  was 
difficult  to  quarrel  with  a  man  who  based  his 
life  and  service  upon  the  commission  which 
Jesus  gave  to  his  own  apostles.  He  had  the 
same  judgment  of  the  relations  of  his  followers 
to  the  church  that  Jesus  had  to  the  authorities 
of  his  time.  "  Whatsoever  they  command  you, 
that  observe  and  do,"  said  the  great  Galilean. 
St.  Francis  bade  his  companions  kiss  the  hands 
of  priests  and  recognize  authority ;  and  yet  the 
church  bowed  to  him. 

There  is  a  painting  by  Benozzi  of  the  meeting 
of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic.  St.  Francis 
wishes  to  reform  men's  lives — St.  Dominic 
sought  to  save  them  by  correct  opinions.  The 
former  represents  religion  and  the  latter  repre- 
sents theology.  In  the  picture  the  face  of  Dom- 
inic is  marked  by  thought  and  power — the  face 
of  Francis  is  touched  by  pain  but  glorified  by. 
sympathy.  Francis  could  not  bow  to  Dominic ; 
he  had  effaced  himself  already.  Nay,  it  is 
Dominic  and  theology,  represented  by  him,  that 
are  bowing  down  in  the  presence  of  religion.  It 
is  the  story  of  faith  in  all  ages.  The  intellect 
yields  to  the  heart  in  the  homage  of  the  great 
thinker  paid  to  the  greater  saint.  The  con- 
trast between  Pope  Innocent  and  St.  Francis 
is  even  more  marked.  As  we  have  seen,  Inno- 
10  129 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

cent  III  represented  the  papacy  at  its  very  cli- 
max. In  him  the  priest  had  become  lord  of 
emperors  and  king  of  kings.  Yet  Innocent  III 
was  not  the  head  of  the  church.  The  real  head 
of  the  church  was  St.  Francis  d'Assisi.  He  was 
the  one  who  did  not  rule  as  the  Gentiles  did,  but 
who  became  the  greatest  because  he  served. 
The  knowledge  of  St.  Francis  came  by  intui- 
tion, and  his  personal  power  by  unconscious 
psychology.  Yet  it  was  not  always  easy  for 
him  to  control  the  movement  which  he  had  cre- 
ated, nor  was  there  always  perfect  loyalty 
among  his  followers,  even  in  his  own  lifetime. 
He  himself  knew  how  to  utter  curses,  and  one 
of  them,  dire,  though  impersonal,  was  upon 
those  brothers  who  should  in  any  way  change 
or  destroy  any  part  of  the  fabric  which  he  had 
erected.  He  did  not  know  that  history  is  a  liv- 
ing thing,  and  that  no  human  organization  can 
remain  static  without  at  last  perishing  from 
the  earth.  The  genius  of  Jesus  was  above  that 
of  all  his  followers,  even  the  greatest  of  them 
in  ancient  or  modern  times.  The  Kingdom  of 
God  for  Him  was  always  a  living  thing,  and  it 
was  to  grow.  He  dealt  always  in  principles, 
while  his  followers  have  been  so  devoted  to 
structure  and  to  precepts. 
How  democratic  the  Christian  religion  really 
130 


SOCIAL    REVIVAL    IN   ITALY 

is,  how  it  exalts  the  common  people,  how  it 
glorifies  the  darkest  places  of  human  life,  is 
disclosed  in  the  Franciscan  revival  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  The  ecclesiastical  triumphs 
for  larger  political  liberty  are  small  in  compar- 
ison with  its  great  revelations.  Out  of  the 
darkness  shines  the  wonderful  figure  of  St. 
Francis,  recognized  not  alone  by  the  Eoman 
church,  but  by  every  man  and  woman  who  loves 
the  best  there  is  in  human  nature.  The  Fran- 
ciscan order  became  rich  in  the  process  of  its 
development,  as  did  the  other  orders,  and  at 
length  it  fell  upon  evil  times.  The  succession 
of  the  work  of  this  great  leader  was  not  in  the 
Franciscan  order,  but  it  was  in  the  life  and 
work  of  every  man  inspired  by  his  motives  and 
who  believed  as  he  did  that  the  cure  of  social 
evils  is  in  the  same  love  that  is  the  cure  of  sin. 
Among  the  successors  of  St.  Francis  d'Assisi 
and  St.  Catherine  of  Siena  as  well  are  Wil- 
berforce,  Howard,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Elizabeth 
Fry,  and  Florence  Nightingale. 

At  last  the  mystic  in  him  overcame  the  man 
of  force.  He  gave  himself  to  prayer  and  con- 
templation. The  legend  is  that  on  his  hands 
and  feet  and  side  there  came  marks  of  the 
wounds  of  the  greater  Master  whom  he  adored. 
It  may  be  true.    In  our  time  we  are  furnishing 

131 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

new  proofs  for  facts  long  doubted.  We  are 
finding  ont  in  heaven  and  earth  many  un- 
dreamed-of things.  When  he  was  dead  his 
resting  place  was  guarded  lest  the  body  might 
be  stolen  away.  He  was  all  men's  saint,  and 
the  name  of  Francis  dims  every  other  upon  the 
calendar. 


CHAPTER  V 
SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS   IN   ENGLAND 

A  saint  had  appeared  in  history  in  the  per- 
son of  St.  Francis,  and  a  great  ideal  in  the 
brotherhood  which  he  founded.  His  Little 
Brothers  were  to  labor  with  their  hands  for 
their  daily  bread,  and  were  only  to  beg  when 
work  failed.  They  were  to  possess  no  money 
and  acquire  no  land.  Poverty  was  not  only 
enjoined  upon  the  individual  members,  but  also 
upon  the  entire  fraternity.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  were  allowed  to  live  the  common  life.  No 
fastings  or  flagellations,  no  special  penances 
were  enjoined  just  as  no  novitiate  in  the  begin- 
ning was  required.  It  was  a  voluntary  union 
of  holy  men,  freed  from  the  cares  of  the  world, 
in  order  to  preach  the  simple  gospel  as  they 
understood  it. 

In  the  time  of  St.  Francis  the  brotherhood 
became  an  order,  but  after  the  death  of  its 
founder  the  last  instructions  of  St.  Francis 
were  set  aside  and  it  was  decided  by  Pope  Greg- 

133 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

ory  IX  that  trustees  might  be  appointed  to  re- 
ceive and  administer  money.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  great  revival  was  not  confined  to  Italy, 
but  disciples  of  St.  Francis  made  their  way  to 
all  the  countries  of  Europe  and  indeed  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  Franciscans  found  their 
way  to  England  in  the  year  1224.  Thirty  years 
after  there  were  more  than  twelve  hundred  of 
these  friars,  and  they  became  a  great  force  in 
the  making  of  history.  The  Franciscans  had  in 
two  generations  become  a  great  ecclesiastical 
and  social  organization.  They  had  their  own 
houses,  differing  from  monasteries  chiefly  in 
that  they  were  usually  less  splendid  and  not  so 
well  endowed.  They  continued  to  be  recruited 
from  among  the  poor  and  still  held  their  in- 
fluence with  the  common  people.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  invaded  the  realm  of  scholarship, 
and  with  a  very  great  departure  from  the  early 
view  of  the  order  they  came  to  honor  by  intel- 
lectual attainments.  The  Franciscans  gave  the 
world  Eoger  Bacon,  Duns  Scotus  and  Occam 
among  others.  If  Thomas  Aquinas  had  not 
been  a  Dominican  this  order  could  have  claimed 
the  most  influential  theologians  of  the  middle 
ages.  The  first  generation  sought  neither 
honor  nor  position,  but  in  less  than  one  hundred 
years  from  the  threefold  magic  by  which  pov- 

134 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

erty  and  the  cross  were  indicated  in  the  texts 
found  in  the  gospels,  the  Franciscans  came  to 
the  papal  throne.  One  other  change  must  be 
noted,  and  that  is  the  inevitable  weakening  of 
the  early  discipline;  the  disguised  or  open  use 
of  the  good  things  of  this  world ;  and  the  Fran- 
ciscans passed  through  the  alternate  movements 
of  achievement,  degradation  and  reform  that 
mark  all  forms  of  religious  organization. 

From  this  time  forward  the  interests  of  de- 
mocracy lie  in  England  more  than  in  any  other 
country.  But  there,  as  throughout  Europe,  the 
various  social  forces  were  in  conflict  because 
their  rights  and  powers  were  either  undefined 
or  were  in  process  of  change.  Successful  strug- 
gle registers  itself  in  custom,  in  constitution  or 
in  law.  The  decay  of  authority  reopens  the 
question.  New  struggles — those  of  war,  of  au- 
thority, of  wealth,  of  ideas — ensue  and  the  re- 
sultant changes  are  once  more  registered  in 
some  apparently  permanent  form  of  the  social 
will.  The  conflict  of  kings  and  nobles  was  not 
confined  to  England,  nor  was  the  contest  be- 
tween bishops  and  barons  limited  to  the  valley 
of  the  Ehine.  Wherever  powers  of  opposing 
interests  existed  struggle  was  bound  to  follow. 
Even  after  definite  settlement  seemed  to  have 
been  made  the   old  questions   were  often  re- 

135 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

opened  and  there  was  no  final  authority  but 
strength. 

It  is  necessary  to  sketch  the  rivalries  that 
characterized  England  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. There  were  conflicts  between  kings  and 
nobles,  the  latter  seeking  to  maintain  the  local 
authority  which  had  been  theirs  since  the  time 
of  the  Norman  Conquest,  the  king  seeking  to 
become  the  actual  as  well  as  the  nominal  head 
of  a  nation.  Meantime  the  towns,  with  the  in- 
crease of  wealth,  through  manufacture  and  com- 
merce, grew  in  population  and  in  importance. 
They,  too,  had  to  be  reckoned  with.  The  mon- 
asteries based  their  claims  to  independence 
upon  ancient  privileges  guaranteed  both  by 
Pope  and  Monarch,  and  struggled  to  maintain 
their  place  against  the  towns,  the  nobles  and 
the  throne.  The  magnificent  churches  and 
glorious  conventual  buildings  were  the  center 
of  the  best  lands  and  originally  in  the  midst  of 
a  sparse  population.  But  the  population  in- 
creased. The  town  stood  over  against  the 
monastery.  It  was  a  conflict  of  ancient  privi- 
leges with  new  powers.  The  towns  furnished 
men  and  money  to  the  king  and  received  royal 
recognition  in  consequence.  The  struggle  was 
often  largely  economic.  Thorold  Rogers  gives 
an  account  of  the  conflict  between  the  town  of 

136 


SOCIAL    UPHEAVALS    IN    ENGLAND 

Canterbury  and  the  friars  and  monks  of  Christ 
Church  on  the  invasion  of  Robert  Bruce.  The 
following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  bailiff 
and  citizens  assembled  in  mass  meetings  in  the 
open  fields:  (1)  "That  they  would  pull  down 
all  the  tenements  in  Burgate  to  the  mill;  (2) 
that  no  one  under  penalties,  to  be  imposed  by 
the  city,  should  inhabit  the  prior's  houses;  (3) 
that  all  rents  of  200  marks  and  upward  should 
be  levied  for  the  benefit  of  the  city;  (4)  that  no 
one  should  buy,  sell,  or  exchange  drink  or  vict- 
uals with  the  monastery  under  similar  penal- 
ties ;  (5)  that  all  carts  and  horses  from  the  man- 
ors of  the  convent  containing  victuals  or  stock 
for  the  monastery  should  be  seized  and  sold 
with  their  contents;  (6)  that  if  the  prior  or  any 
of  the  monks  go  out  of  their  church  they  should 
be  spoiled  of  their  clothes  and  goods  and  be  at- 
tached; (7)  that  a  deep  ditch  should  be  dug 
outside  the  great  gate  of  the  monastery,  so  that 
no  one  should  go  in  or  out;  (8)  that  no  stranger 
should  enter  the  church,  unless  he  take  oath 
first  that  he  will  offer  no  gift  to  the  shrine  of 
St.  Thomas  or  elsewhere;  (9)  each  of  the  citi- 
zens swore  that  he  would  have  from  the  shrine 
of  St.  Thomas  a  gold  ring  of  the  best,  for  each 
finger  of  each  of  his  hands,  from  those  which 
were  hung  up  at  the  aforesaid  shrine  of  St. 

137 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Thomas.  It  was  a  common  custom,  when  gifts 
of  money  and  jewels  were  made  to  the  shrine,  to 
acknowledge  them,  and  inform  the  donor  that 
the  ring  had  been  hung  on  the  shrine. ' ' 1 

The  ecclesiastics  regarded  their  political  and 
secular  rights  quite  as  important  as  their  re- 
ligious duties.  The  incursion  of  Dominicans 
and  Franciscans  into  England  introduced  a  new 
element.  Whereas  the  monks  had  chosen  the 
country  and  the  fields,  the  friars  chose  the 
towns.  Green  says  2  * '  the  work  of  the  friars 
was  physical  as  well  as  moral.,,  The  brethren 
fixed  themselves  in  the  meanest  and  poorest 
quarters  of  the  town.  They  settled  in  the  lep- 
ers '  quarters  or  among  the  swamps.  The  Fran- 
ciscans soon  outgrew  their  taste  for  the  poorest 
places  and  the  scantiest  fare,  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  in  the  beginning  their  colloquial 
form  of  preaching  revitalized  religion.  And  no 
doubt  they  entered  also  into  the  social  needs  as 
well  as  into  the  realm  of  faith.  Conflict  of 
monk  and  friar  must  of  necessity  take  place. 
It  was  really  the  old  conflict,  as  old  as  centuries, 
the  struggle  between  priest  and  prophet.  Only 
this  time  the  friar  prophets  were  received  into 
men's  houses  rather  than  stoned.  On  the  other 

1  Thorold  Bogers '  ' '  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages, ' '  p. 
363. 

3 * 'England,"  by  John  Richard  Green,  Vol.  I,  p.  265. 

138 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

hand,  the  work  and  influence  of  the  friars 
tended  to  a  reformation  in  the  conduct  of  the 
monks  and  in  the  management  of  the  monas- 
teries. 

The  condition  is  not  outlined  without  recur- 
rence to  the  towns.  On  account  of  contribu- 
tions to  royal  funds,  some  had  received  the 
monopoly  of  the  manufacture  of  one  article  and 
some  of  another. 

There  were  merchant  guilds  as  well  as  artisan 
guilds  in  the  cities  and  towns,  but  it  is  supposed 
that  the  guilds  came  into  England  with  William 
the  Conqueror,  though  they  were  not  important 
as  social  organizations  until  long  afterward. 
The  guild  was  the  earliest  form  of  monopoly. 
The  merchants  had  the  right  to  trade  in  the 
town  where  their  guild  was  established,  and 
those  who  wished  to  compete  with  them  were 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  privilege.  With  the 
monopoly  of  manufacture  artisan  guilds  in- 
creased in  number  and  in  power.  These  special 
fraternities  had  the  exclusive  right  to  make 
particular  articles  and  the  wares  of  all  other 
persons  were  excluded  from  the  market.  With 
the  growth  of  the  towns  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century  these  guilds  became  more 
and  more  important.  The  artisan  guilds  in 
England,   as   in   Germany,  became   more  and 

139 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

more  the  employers  of  labor,  and  the  real  arti- 
sans were  excluded  from  their  ranks.  Natu- 
rally the  journeymen,  with  the  growth  of  class 
consciousness,  began  to  set  up  fraternities  of 
their  own.  These  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
trade  unions  of  modern  times,  though  their  in- 
fluence in  England  in  the  fourteenth  century 
was  not  extensive.  The  merchant  guilds  and 
the  craft  guilds  represented  the  interests  and 
the  authority.  The  guilds  flourished  according 
to  the  rights  and  the  benefits  bestowed  upon 
them  by  the  royal  charters,  and  in  the  success 
of  the  guilds  consisted  the  hope  of  the  towns. 

New  social  structure  is  the  result  of  a  treaty 
of  peace  between  social  warriors  or  else  it  is 
the  condition  of  peace  imposed  by  the  social 
conqueror.  New  laws  are  the  authoritative  ex- 
pression of  new  conditions  in  social  relations. 
So  long  as  a  single  power  or  allied  powers  con- 
trol social  groups,  there  will  be  no  change  in 
social  structure.  When  various  social  forces 
contest  for  supremacy,  social  changes  are  likely 
to  ensue.  For  England,  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century  was  a  time  of  dramatic  conflicts 
and  contrasts.  Many  forces  at  work  slowly 
and  silently  for  generations  were  to  find  visible 
expression.  Edward  III  of  England,  1312-1377, 
was   one  of  the  most  brilliant  monarchs   of 

140 


SOCIAL    UPHEAVALS    IN    ENGLAND 

Europe.  It  was  he  who  laid  low  the  pride  of 
France  at  the  battle  of  Crecy,  and  filled  Lon- 
don with  the  spoil  of  his  triumphs.  A  lover  of 
pleasure,  he  robbed  both  France  and  Germany 
of  their  songs  of  chivalry,  and  with  gay  tourna- 
ments he  sought  to  fill  in  history  the  role  that 
King  Arthur  had  occupied  in  legend.  Soldier, 
knight  and  statesman,  he  knew  also  how  to  ap- 
peal to  the  imagination  of  his  people.  Such  a 
glamour  was  round  about  his  person  that  he 
was  able  to  reverse  all  those  simple  moralities 
that  lay  at  the  heart  of  the  Saxon  people  over 
which  he  ruled.  His  reputation  as  a  warrior 
enhanced  his  skill  as  a  diplomatist  and  he  was 
for  the  time  being  practically  the  master  of 
Europe.  In  local  affairs  he  knew  when  to  be 
imperious  and  when  to  yield.  The  pride  of 
England  was  satisfied.  The  turbulent  nobles 
were  appeased.  The  army  was  his.  The 
church  was  conciliated.  And  that  triple  alli- 
ance of  monarchy,  religion  and  land  of  which 
England  was  to  know  so  much  never  seemed 
more  complete  or  more  powerful. 

There  are  elemental  forces  in  human  nature 
when  aroused  by  a  great  passion  that  easily 
fling  down  outgrown  social  institutions;  and 
there  are  elemental  forces  in  nature  which  must 
always  be  reckoned  with  in  framing  any  philos- 

141 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

ophy  of  history.  It  was  the  poet  Horace  who 
long  ago  taught  us  that  death  is  the  greatest  of 
all  democrats,  and  the  French  preacher,  Bos- 
suet,  looking  upon  the  dead  face  of  his  king, 
really  took  his  text  from  the  Latin  poet,  when 
he  began  his  oration,  "  There  is  nothing  great 
but  God." 

So  it  was  that  the  great  plague  beginning  its 
scourge  in  central  China  and  marching  west- 
ward with  legendary  accompaniments  of  tern-  \ 
pest  and  earthquake  reached  Europe  at  the  end  ^ 
of  the  year  1347.  Twelve  months  later  it  had  /y\ 
spread  throughout  Europe,  and  in  August,  1840,-^ 
it  appeared  in  England.  The  chronicles  are* 
naturally  confused,  and  whether  half  the  popu- 
lation perished  or  not  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
But  its  effects  were  vital,  economic,  social, 
moral,  and  political.  Men  called  the  plague  the 
Black  Death,  because  of  the  dark  blotches  which 
appeared  upon  the  skin  as  a  sign  of  the  disor- 
der. Some  persons  seized  with  the  disease  died 
almost  instantly,  doubtless  through  the  effect 
upon  the  imagination.  Others  lingered  for  a 
day  or  two.  The  contagion  spread  from  town 
to  town;  and  attempt  at  isolation  of  the  af- 
flicted centers  of  population  was  of  no  avail. 
The  growth  of  the  towns  had  taken  place  with- 
out    any     adequate     sanitary     arrangements. 

142 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

Filthy  and  sewerless  streets  and  polluted  water 
supplies,  together  with  congested  population, 
invited  and  increased  the  disease. 

It  is  true  now  that  cholera  and  other  disor- 
ders are  most  fatal  in  the  poorer  quarters  of 
the  cities.  It  was  among  the  common  people 
that  the  ravages  of  the  scourge  were  the  great- 
est. But  among  the  victims  were  members  of 
the  royal  family,  of  the  nobility,  and  of  the 
superior  clergy.  All  ranks  of  society  were  in- 
vaded. The  plague  reappeared  in  1361  and 
1369,  so  that  we  have  a  period  of  twenty  years 
through  which  the  social  mind  was  affected  by 
a  great  terror.  The  population  of  England 
was  probably  about  four  millions  at  that  time, 
and  by  the  lowest  estimate  it  was  reduced  one- 
third.  It  is  believed  that  there  were  twenty- 
five  million  deaths  throughout  Europe.  It  was 
a  great  blow  against  the  center  of  civilization. 

The  malign  influence  of  the  Black  Death  was 
not  chiefly  in  the  destruction  of  the  population, 
for  the  population  tended  to  increase  rapidly  as 
it  always  does  in  order  to  reach  the  normal  lim- 
its of  the  economic  standard  of  living  that  pre- 
vails among  any  people.  The  effect  upon  in- 
itiative and  enterprise  was  paralyzing.  Men 
were  appalled,  life  had  become  so  cheap  that 
great  efforts  seemed  unbearable.    The  stroke  of 

143 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  terror  was  so  benumbing  that  it  left  no  ten- 
derness in  human  nature  and  no  sensitiveness 
in  the  conscience  of  men.  It  seems  to  have 
been  accompanied  by  moral  degradation,  and 
death  was  too  familiar  to  be  appalling.  Many 
of  the  clergy  had  been  cut  off  by  the  disease, 
and  their  places  were  filled  by  men  with  even 
less  learning  and  character  than  their  predeces- 
sors. Families  were  broken,  domestic  and  so- 
cial relations  were  confused,  and  the  whole 
fabric  of  the  corporate  life  was  rent  by  various 
discords. 

Harvests  rotted  in  the  fields  in  the  summer, 
and  in  the  springtime  fields  were  left  unplowed 
and  unsown.  Building  operations  ceased,  as 
there  were  too  many  houses  already  for  the 
shelter  of  the  living.  It  was  at  such  a  time  and 
in  the  presence  of  such  a  calamity  that  the 
common  people  awakened  to  a  sense  of  liberty 
that  is  well-nigh  lawless,  and  to  a  sense  of 
power  almost  irresponsible.  By  this  time  sla- 
very in  England  had  practically  disappeared, 
though  serfdom  was  in  many  places  of  such  a 
nature  that  the  distinction  between  the  condi- 
tion of  "villein"  and  of  slave  was  rather  to  the 
advantage  of  the  master.  The  serfs  must  pay 
taxes,  and  they  had  the  doubtful  privilege  of 
appearing  in   court.     Different   parts   of  the 

144 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

kingdom  had  different  customs,  but  the  men 
were  regarded  as  owing  a  certain  amount  of  ser- 
vice to  the  lord  of  the  manor,  even  though  they 
held  lands  of  their  own  in  tenantry.  In  the 
times  when  the  feudal  system  was  at  its  height 
the  castle  and  its  population  were  independent 
industrial  units.  They  practically  produced  all 
they  consumed,  from  field  and  shop  and  loom. 
With  the  rise  of  the  towns  and  the  evident  eco- 
nomic advantages  of  the  division  of  labor,  the 
old  system  could  not  maintain  itself.  Exchange 
between  the  estate  and  the  town  took  place  as 
well  as  between  one  part  of  the  country  and 
another.  We  are  coming  to  the  time  of  a  new 
form  of  economic  arrangements.  Eent  and  ser- 
vice might  be  paid  in  money  instead  of  in  goods 
or  in  labor.  And  to  the  break-up  of  the  old 
system  the  reduction  of  the  laboring  population 
caused  by  the  Black  Death  directly  contributed. 
Whenever  the  amount  of  commodity  is  re- 
duced the  prices  rise.  If  the  cost  of  living  is 
increased,  sooner  or  later  the  amount  of  wages 
must  correspond.  If  the  number  of  the  usual 
agricultural  laborers  upon  any  estate  is  in- 
vaded, the  lord  of  the  manor  must  go  into  the 
marketplace  in  order  to  fill  up  the  ranks.  If 
the  number  of  laborers  is  not  at  all  adequate 
for  the  work  to  be  done,  the  workmen  may  dic- 
ll  145 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tate  terms.  The  Black  Death  had  swept  into 
unmarked  trenches  half  of  the  working  classes. 
The  conquering  enemy  of  the  dead  poor,  how- 
ever, was  the  disguised  friend  of  the  living. 

No  such  industrial  crisis  was  ever  seen  be- 
fore or  since.  The  masters  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  control  expected  the  half  servile  lower 
classes  to  perform  the  old-time  labor  upon  the 
ancient  terms.  They  were  appalled  to  discover 
an  insurgent  spirit  everywhere.  Men  who  had 
crouched  in  the  presence  of  their  superiors  now 
began  to  talk  about  their  rights.  But  these  men 
lacked  leadership  and  had  no  practical  program. 
Chaos  reigned,  for  the  deadly  scourge  had 
riven  the  social  bonds.  Landless  men  went 
about  singly  or  in  companies.  Men  by  night, 
emerging  from  robber's  dens,  prowled  about 
the  towns  or  invaded  estates  and  manor  houses. 
Moral  poison  had  infected  the  social  life  as 
deeply  as  the  physical  strength  of  the  nation 
had  been  degraded.  Meantime  social  order 
must  be  restored ;  the  day's  work  must  be  done ; 
fields  must  be  tilled ;  the  spindle  and  loom  must 
do  their  work;  and  human  wants  must  be  sup- 
plied. All  this  meant  industrial  reconstruction. 
The  instant  demand  of  the  laborer  was  for  in- 
creased wages;  and,  in  secret,  companies  of 
workmen  plotted  together  to  secure  economic 

146 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

advantage.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  time ; 
the  opening  campaign  of  a  war  that  was  to  rage 
with  various  fortunes,  with  long  truces,  fierce 
hostilities,  victory  first  upon  one  side  and  then 
upon  the  other,  during  a  period  of  six  hundred 
years. 

The  rulers  of  England  were  amazed  at  the 
beginning  of  an  industrial  democracy.  In  1349 
was  enacted  the  Statute  of  Laborers.  The  stat- 
ute contained  eight  clauses:  "  (1)  No  person 
under  sixty  years  of  age,  whether  serf  or  free, 
shall  decline  to  undertake  farm  labor  at  the 
wages  which  had  been  customary  in  the  king's 
twentieth  year  (1347),  except  they  lived  by  mer- 
chandize, were  regularly  engaged  in  some  me- 
chanical craft,  were  possessed  of  private  means, 
or  were  occupiers  of  land.  The  lord  was  to 
have  the  first  claim  to  the  labor  of  his  serfs, 
and  those  who  declined  to  work  for  him  or  for 
others  are  to  be  sent  to  the  common  gaol.  (2) 
Imprisonment  is  decreed  against  all  persons 
who  may  quit  service  before  the  time  which  is 
fixed  in  their  agreements.  (3)  No  other  than 
the  old  wages  are  to  be  given,  and  the  remedy 
against  those  who  seek  to  get  more  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  lord's  court.  (4)  Lords  of  man- 
ors paying  more  than  the  customary  amount 
are  to  be  liable  to  the  same  conditions,  the  ar- 

147 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tificers  enumerated  being  saddlers,  tanners,  far- 
riers, shoemakers,  tailors,  smiths,  carpenters, 
masons,  tilers,  pargetters,  carters,  and  others. 

(6)  Food  must  be  sold  at  reasonable  prices. 

(7)  Alms  are  strictly  forbidden  to  able-bodied 
laborers.  (8)  Any  excess  of  wages  taken  or 
paid  can  be  seized  for  the  king's  nse  toward  the 
payment  of  a  fifteenth  and  tenth  lately  granted. 
The  statute  provides  for  the  difference  between 
summer  and  winter  wages,  and  guards  against 
the  emigration  of  the  town  population  to  coun- 
try places  in  summer.  In  answer  to  complaints 
from  the  employers  of  labor,  the  Statute  of 
Laborers  is  constantly  reenacted,  with  accumu- 
lated penalties  and  precautions — penalties 
sometimes  laid  on  the  laborer  only,  sometimes 
on  the  employer,  sometimes  on  both. ' '  * 

This  statute  was  not  repealed  until  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  struggle  for  an  in- 
dustrial democracy  was  to  go  forward  under 
many  phases.  It  is  not  only  in  our  time  that 
the  real  issue  has  been  clearly  defined.  Mean- 
while the  forms  of  industry  have  undergone 
many  changes.  The  problems  which  became 
visible  and  acute  at  the  time  of  the  plague  could 
have  had  no  expression  then  had  it  not  been  for 

1 ■ '  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  • '  by  Thorold  Kogers, 
p.  228. 

148 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

the  new  sense  of  the  value  of  the  individual  man 
which  had  found  its  way  into  the  world. 

Pestilence  in  the  pre-christian  world  was 
never  the  herald  of  a  democracy.  The  truth 
was  the  world  already  had  the  idea  and  the 
scourge  was  its  servant.  We  have  briefly 
sketched  the  chaotic  condition  of  human  soci- 
ety; the  breaking  up  of  the  old  forms  of  life; 
the  new  sense  of  power  felt  by  men  who  work 
with  their  hands,  and  the  curious  fact  that  when 
men  looked  day  after  day  into  the  familiar  face 
of  death  it  did  not  quicken  the  moral  sense  or 
ennoble  the  survivors  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. It  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  history 
that  not  pestilence,  nor  war,  nor  famine — those 
feeble  imitations  of  hell  in  this  world — have 
been  strong  to  bring  men  to  repentance; 
rather  have  they  confirmed  the  survivors  in 
their  sins. 

Churches  and  priests  failed  to  give  leader- 
ship. The  friars  of  all  classes  had  by  this  time 
become  corrupt.  But  in  spite  of  their  vices 
they  still  had  a  strong  hold  upon  the  people, 
for  they  lived  in  their  midst  and  often  upheld 
the  new  social  doctrines  against  the  ruling 
classes.  Religion  must  find  some  fresh  form  of 
expression.  The  new  conditions  demanded  a 
new  voice,  and  over  this  social  chaos  there  must 

149 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

come  a  brooding  spirit,  out  of  which  order  may 
at  last  be  born. 

At  this  point  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  the 
relation  of  the  church  to  literature,  and  espe- 
cially to  its  dramatic  forms.  It  was  of  the  very 
nature  of  the  case  that  there  could  be  nothing 
but  conflict  between  the  Christian  church  and 
the  classical  drama.  In  Athens  marble  seats 
were  reserved  in  the  front  rows  for  the  occu- 
pancy of  the  priests  in  the  great  days  of 
^Eschylus  and  his  companions.  But  Christian 
priests  were  early  forbidden  to  enter  the  the- 
ater because  the  institution  was  both  pagan  and 
immoral.  However,  the  dramatic  instinct  could 
not  be  suppressed.  Indeed  the  Christian  year 
with  its  saints  and  its  seasons  is  essentially  dra- 
matic. Liturgies  were  not  enough,  and  miracle 
plays  and  moralities  were  invented.  The  Chris- 
tian drama  was  developed.  Priests  were  the 
authors  of  the  plays.  Some  of  them  were  en- 
acted in  the  cathedrals  and  the  final  survival 
is  in  the  great  Passion  Play  of  Oberammergau. 
The  moralities  where  the  virtues  and  vices  of 
men  were  personified  had  entered  into  the 
thought  and  life  of  the  people.  When  the 
preacher  failed  the  actor  came. 

This  brief  digression  is  necessary  for  our 
understanding  of  the  nature  and  effect  of  the 

150 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

poem  known  as  the  "Vision  of  Piers  Plough- 
man/ '  by  William  Langland,  1332-1400. 
Strange  as  much  of  the  poem  is  to  our  modern 
thought  and  feeling,  it  belonged  to  its  own  time, 
and  it  was  as  truly  the  incarnation  of  the  de- 
mocracy of  Christianity  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury as  was  Homer  or  Virgil  the  interpretation 
of  classical  times. 

It  may  be  true,  as  Skeat  holds,  that  the  poem 
was  written  by  the  man  whose  name  it  bears. 
It  may  be  that  it  had  as  many  authors  as  others 
say  had  the  Iliad  or  the  Pentateuch.  But,  in 
any  event,  it  was  the  voice  of  its  age.  Nay,  it 
was  far  more,  it  represented  the  scorn,  rebuke 
and  contempt  of  the  people  as  well  as  their 
passion,  aspiration  and  hope.  It  would  not  be 
correct  to  say  that  the  poem  created  a  new  age. 
It  is  much  nearer  the  fact  to  say  that  in  this 
work  more  than  elsewhere  the  struggling  self- 
consciousness  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  Eng- 
land came  to  ample  expression.  Whether  we 
accept  the  theory  of  the  texts  A,  B  and  C,  by 
the  one  author,  or  whether  we  regard  the  form 
of  the  work,  now  extant,  as  the  joint  produc- 
tion of  a  company  of  men,  is  a  literary  question, 
but  is  of  no  interest  to  the  social  problem. 
Whether  one  hand  wrote  it  or  five,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  book  represents  the  purpose,  and 

151 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

as  a  whole  is  the  protest   of  a  new-born  Eng- 
land. 

The  book  opens  with  a  prologue  in  which  the 
author  flees  from  London  to  the  peaceful  Mal- 
vern Hills,  where  he  falls  asleep  and  dreams. 
In  his  dream  the  world  passes  by.  It  is  a  mot- 
ley company  and  represents  all  classes.  There 
are  plowmen  and  spendthrifts,  merchants, 
jesters  and  beggars,  pilgrims,  priests  and 
friars,  lawyers,  laborers  and  inn-keepers,  and 
among  the  group  a  king  is  not  wanting.  Then 
follows  an  allegory  giving  an  account  of  the 
relations  of  Falsehood,  Flattery  and  Bribery, 
and  ending  with  the  marriage  of  Falsehood  and 
Bribery.  The  people  in  the  prologue  are  no 
shadows,  but  real  men,  and  in  the  allegory  the 
personifications  are  as  real  as  human  flesh  and 
blood.  In  Canto  V  the  poet  awakens,  but  once 
more  he  falls  asleep,  for  a  second  dream.  The 
field  is  full  of  people;  Reason  preaches  on  the 
judgments  of  God.  Sinners  repent,  and  among 
them  are  Pride,  Luxury,  Envy,  Wrath,  Glut- 
tony, Sloth,  as  well  as  Robert  the  Robber. 
These  sins  are  as  real  persons  as  such  incarnate 
passions  of  Shakespeare  as  Macbeth,  the  Am- 
bitious; or  Othello,  the  Jealous.  The  religious 
plays  in  the  streets  of  the  towns  for  genera- 
tions had  prepared  the  people  to  understand. 

152 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

It  was  all  as  valid  as  the  descriptions  of  Bun- 
yan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress/ '    After  the  vision 
and  the  preaching  the  converted  set  out  to  seek 
the  Truth.    Now  it  is  that  the  poet  makes  Piers 
Ploughman,  the  common  working  man,  the  one 
person  who  was  able  to  lead  these  people  to  the 
Truth.    It  is  the  seed  corn  which  has  blossomed 
out  in  some  popular  plays  of  our  own  day.    But 
Piers  must  first  plough  a  half  acre.     In  the 
meantime   he    scourges    all  men's   sins.     The 
knight  is  instructed  in  the  duties  of  a  land- 
owner ;  he  must  fulfill  his  obligations  and  trgat 
well  those  who  work  for  him,  and  this  is  based 
upon  the  social  aristocracy  which  is  the  very 
heart  of  the  gospel.    In  another  world  the  mas- 
ter and  his  servant  may  change  places.    There 
are  other  standards  than  those  of  earth,  and 
there  is  a  final  triumph  of  justice.    So  he  says, 
"It  may  yet  happen  in  heaven  that  he  shall  be 
in  a  worthier  place   and  in  more   bliss  than 
thou."     The   poet   is  no   demagogue,   for  he 
scourges  also  the  laborers  for  their  sins  and  for 
their  lack  of  willingness  to  toil.    In  the  eleventh 
vision  there  are  other  impersonations,  but  Piers 
Ploughman  changes  from  the  common  work- 
man to  a  person  strangely  like  the  Son  of  Man. 
It  is  he  who  knows  the  way  to  the  Truth.    At 
the  foundation  of  the  work  is  the  gospel  of 

153 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

equality  among  men,  an  equality  which  is  not 
mechanical  but  moral;  teaching  that  there  is 
work  and  duty  for  all  men  of  every  rank.  The 
poem  interpreted  the  feelings  of  the  people  and 
had  an  extraordinary  vogue.  The  age  of  print- 
ing was  not  yet,  but  in  writing,  in  whole  or  part, 
it  was  scattered  throughout  the  country.  Por- 
tions of  it  were  committed  to  memory,  and  re- 
peated from  lip  to  lip.  It  ornamented  the  ser- 
mons of  those  who  preached.  It  was  also  the 
"Werther"  and  the  "Wilhelm  Meister,,  of  its 
time.  Indeed,  Langland  more  than  Goethe 
spoke  the  living  word;  and  it  was  from  the 
heart  of  an  ethical  democracy. 

Poetry  was  not  the  only  form  in  which  the 
spirit  of  the  time  found  expression.  Down  in 
the  county  of  Kent  a  "Mad  Priest"  arose,  as 
he  was  named.  But  John  Ball,  neither  priest 
nor  friar,  seems  to  have  been  a  parochial  helper 
with  some  minor  clerical  duties.  He  was  evi- 
dently a  man  of  powerful  personality  who 
voiced  the  new  spirit  in  terms  of  the  popular 
orator.  He  began  preaching  in  the  open  air 
and  in  the  country  places  and  multitudes  flocked 
to  hear  his  fiery  words.  He  insisted  that  the 
Black  Plague  had  taught  the  equality  of  men, 
for  the  pestilence  had  spared  neither  high  nor 
low.     God  had  sent  the  Black  Plague  as  the 

154 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

teacher  of  social  and  economic  equality.  He 
denounced  the  serfdom  of  labor  as  well  as  the 
tithes  of  the  church.  He  insisted  that  labor 
should  be  free  and  make  its  own  bargains,  and 
that  religion  should  be  supported  by  voluntary 
contributions.  He  denounced  the  sins  of  ec- 
clesiastical organizations,  favored  the  marriage 
of  the  clergy,  and  with  his  new  doctrine  stirred 
the  people  in  all  the  South  of  England.  What- 
ever may  be  thought  at  this  time  of  the  various 
movements  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  Eng- 
land, there  is  no  doubt  that  the  common  people 
were  deeply  moved  by  the  new  social  teaching, 
sometimes  mad,  often  unpractical,  and  yet,  in 
spite  of  its  errors,  distinctly  religious. 

It  is  a  strange  time.  Neither  is  it  easy  to 
measure  all  the  forces  nor  set  in  order  the  so- 
cial conditions.  The  outer  affairs  of  England 
had  prospered,  but  after  Edward  III  had  won 
his  splendid  victories  from  France  the  nation 
was  left  with  his  debts  and  his  taxes.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Eichard  II,  a  lad  only  eleven 
years  of  age.  The  parliament  of  1380  met  at 
Northampton  and  voted  a  poll  tax  of  a  shilling 
a  head.  This  tax  was  farmed  out  to  foreign 
creditors  of  the  state  and  was  handled  very 
much  after  the  manner  of  taxation  in  the  prov- 
inces in  the  ancient  days  of  Rome.    It  was  not 

155 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

a  question  of  the  money  alone,  it  was  the  thing 
which  the  money  represented.  It  was  like  the 
tea  in  Boston  harbor.  Whether  Wat  Tyler  had 
been  dishonored  in  his  home,  as  is  said,  or  not, 
does  not  affect  the  question.  Mobs  of  people 
could  not  have  been  gathered  because  of  one 
crime.  Tyler  had  killed  his  tax  collector  and 
vengeance,  if  not  justice,  was  satisfied. 

It  was  a  peasant  war  after  the  fashion  of 
those  in  various  countries.  It  was  the  stir  of 
an  incoherent  revolution.  Thousands  of  men 
gathered  together,  and  on  June  12,  1381,  they 
marched  on  London.  As  they  journeyed  they 
besieged  jails  and  released  the  prisoners.  The 
most  famous  among  them  was  John  Ball,  who 
had  been  confined  at  Maidstone  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  His  eloquence  still  more 
inflamed  the  people.  Thousands  armed  with 
such  weapons  as  they  could  find  found  them- 
selves in  London.  The  insurgents  were  some- 
thing more  than  a  mob  of  peasants,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  they  were  able  to  capture  the 
Tower  and  slay  all  who  were  in  it,  including  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  boy  king,  with 
a  valor  beyond  his  fifteen  years,  met  the  rebels 
and  asked  for  their  demands.  The  answer 
came,  ' '  We  will  that  you  make  us  free  forever ; 
ourselves,  our  heirs  and  our  lands,  and  that  we 

156 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

be  called  no  more  bond  or  so  reputed/ '  and 
Richard  replied,  "I  grant  it."  In  Smithfield 
he  held  a  conversation  with  Tyler  on  the  one 
side  and  a  few  of  his  men,  including  the  mayor 
of  London,  upon  the  other.  The  lord  mayor 
rode  up  and  smote  Wat  Tyler  to  his  death  upon 
the  spot.  The  man  had  been  tricked  to  a  con- 
versation by  the  kind  of  plot  that  is  common 
among  savage  tribes.  John  Ball  also  was 
hanged  at  St.  Albans  in  July  15,  1381. 

An  army  of  forty  thousand  men  was  gathered 
together  and  King  Richard  marched  through 
Kent  and  Essex,  putting  to  the  sword  those 
who  were  suspected  as  leaders  in  the  uprising. 
Unlicensed  priests  were  ordered  to  be  arrested, 
laws  of  repression  were  revived,  and  the  old 
order  seemed  to  conquer.  Wat  Tyler  and  John 
Ball  were  dead,  but  the  movement  which  they 
represented  was  still  alive,  and  at  last  the  king 
was  forced  to  grant  freedom  to  the  serfs  and 
pardon  to  those  in  the  insurrection.  It  is  true 
that  the  ensuing  parliament  revoked  all  the 
grants  of  liberty  which  the  king  had  made  dur- 
ing the  process  of  the  rebellion,  but  the  English 
land-owners,  without  legal  compulsion,  were  yet 
forced  to  be  the  servants  of  the  defeated  move- 
ment. The  democratic  victory,  in  spite  of  the 
death  of  its  principal  leaders,  was  on  the  way, 

157 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

and  Queen  Elizabeth  completed  the  work  when, 
in  1574,  all  laborers  on  the  royal  estates  were 
enfranchised.  The  movement  could  not  have 
had  the  success  which  followed  it  had  it  not 
been  essentially  an  English  movement.  They 
probably  could  not  have  come  within  the  streets 
of  London  had  not  the  city  itself  been  divided. 
We  shall  see  that  John  Ball  and  Wat  Tyler  are 
the  two  names  in  an  insurgency  that  included 
men  of  all  ranks,  and  was  not  only  wide  as 
England,  but  as  wide  as  Europe. 

John  Wycliffe,  1320-1384,  is  the  great  per- 
sonality and  center  of  the  struggle  between  au- 
thority and  freedom  in  a  much  broader  manner 
than  was  possible  to  the  influence  of  Langland, 
the  preaching  of  Ball  or  the  revolution  led  by 
Wat  Tyler.  Indeed,  it  was  Wycliffe  who 
brought  the  English  movement  into  relation 
with  the  world  life  and  earned  for  himself  the 
title,  ' '  The  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation. ' ' 
Wycliffe  was  an  Oxford  man,  important  as  a 
philosopher  and  a  teacher  before  he  was  thrown 
into  the  conflicts  reaching  down  from  the  throne 
to  the  peasant.  Scholar,  philosopher  and 
preacher,  he  was  also  a  man  of  affairs,  if  not  a 
politician.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  show  his 
theological  importance,  but  rather  his  relation 
to  this  whole  English  upheaval.    That  he  was  a 

158 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

great  popular  author  there  can  be  no  question. 
That  his  translation  of  the  bible  into  English, 
the  publication  of  his  papers  and  addresses, 
gave  him  a  supreme  position  in  the  development 
of  English  literature  cannot  be  disputed  what- 
ever may  be  thought  of  his  religious  activity. 

Wycliffe  entered  two  distinct  lines  of  work 
to  which  reference  must  be  made.  The  first 
was  his  appeal  in  Latin  books  and  tracts  to  his 
own  University,  the  Universities  of  the  world 
and  to  Christian  scholars.  He  defended  the 
king  against  the  pope,  and  was  really  the  Eng- 
lish founder  of  the  doctrine  of  a  national 
church.  '  On  the  other  hand,  he  denied  the  su- 
premacy of  any  human  power,  either  king  or 
pope,  and  asserted  that  all  power,  as  well  as  all 
ownership,  rested  at  last  in  God  himself.  The 
church  was  to  have  no  power  in  civil  matters. 
As  for  its  claim  to  property,  that  was  a  thing 
unclean.  The  use  of  property  as  stewards  of 
God  was  all  either  religious  or  secular  persons 
might  have,  but  authority  depends  upon  right- 
eousness. If  the  church  was  unrighteous  secu- 
lar powers  might  strip  it  of  its  goods.  He  did 
not  carry  out  the  doctrine  to  the  logical  con- 
clusion that  if  the  king  was  unrighteous  he,  too, 
might  be  dethroned  and  despoiled.  But  he 
dealt  with  current  economic  conditions  as  well. 

159 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

He  denounced  the  guilds  and  municipalities  of 
the  towns  as  well  as  the  greed  and  extortions  of 
the  clergy.  He  came  to  the  point  also  of  de- 
nouncing war  and  the  taxations  resulting  from 
war  with  equal  emphasis.  This  and  much  more 
was  Wycliffe  as  a  philosopher  and  a  teacher, 
and  in  such  work  he  influenced  the  mind  of 
Europe. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  the  character  and 
tasks  of  Wycliffe  which  makes  him  much  more 
significant  for  the  people  of  England.  The 
movement  which  he  organized  gave  a  conception 
to  the  idea  of  the  church  that  long  after  was  to 
have  a  new  birth  in  the  Puritan  movement. 
From  his  home  in  Lutterworth,  Wycliffe  sent 
forth  a  company  of  his  disciples  to  practice 
poverty  after  the  model  of  St.  Francis,  but 
especially  to  preach  in  England  the  new  doc- 
trines he  himself  had  taught  them.  The  trans- 
lation of  the  bible  by  Wycliffe  and  his  compan- 
ions was  by  no  means  the  first  translation,  but 
it  was  accompanied  by  commentaries  which 
guided  the  thought  and  speech  of  the  soft- 
spoken  men  who  came  to  be  called  Lollards. 
The  poor  preachers  were  for  the  most  part 
either  laymen  or  secular  priests.  Wycliffe  had 
attacked  both  friars  and  monks  and  he  and  his 
followers  carried  the  nation  with  them.     He 

160 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

was  able  to  avoid  condemnation,  and  he  had 
for  his  support  the  most  powerful  friends.  Ox- 
ford was  the  natural  home  of  the  new  doctrine, 
but  it  was  also  supported  by  many  of  the  no- 
bility, and  even  rich  men  of  the  towns  furnished 
money  to  a  movement  which,  while  it  often 
seemed  to  denounce  them,  was  more  clearly  a 
foe  to  conditions  which  interfered  with  the 
economic  life  and  the  growth  of  manufactures 
and  commerce.  Tracts  and  sermons  were 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  the 
preachers  with  brown  dress  and  staff  in  hand 
preached  in  the  churches  if  they  might,  but  in 
graveyards  and  public  squares,  in  market  places 
and  on  the  street  corners. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  secured  the 
condemnation  of  the  Lollards,  but  he  could  not 
quench  the  enthusiasm  which  had  been  aroused 
throughout  the  country.  King  Eichard  II,  in 
1382,  ordered  every  bishop  to  arrest  the  poor, 
priests  in  every  diocese.  In  this  he  was  sup- 
ported by  the  House  of  Lords.  But  so  strong 
was  the  movement  that  the  Commons  compelled 
the  king  to  withdraw  his  proclamation.  By  this 
time  London  was  practically  won  over  to  the 
new  cause  and  the  West  of  England  had  ac- 
cepted the  doctrine. 

From  England  the  doctrines  of  Wycliffe  had 
12  161 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

spread  to  the  Continent,  and  had  rooted  them- 
selves very  deeply  in  Bohemia.  John  Huss  was 
the  spiritual  child  of  John  Wycliffe.  The  Bo- 
hemian people,  responded  to  his  leadership. 
Wycliffe  had  escaped  the  intrigues  of  powerful 
enemies,  but  the  stress,  of  life  and  the  shock  of 
conflict  had  undermined  the  foundations  of  his 
physical  strength.  In  1384  it  is  said  he  was 
commanded  to  appear  in  Eome  by  Pope  Urban 
VI.  He  did  not  go  to  Eome,  but  very  soon 
after  another  messenger  came  and  death  called 
him  to  that  eternal  Presence  before  which  one 
day  kings  and  popes  alike  must  stand. 

The  nature  of  his  movement  can  be  discov- 
ered in  the  development  of  it  by  his  followers 
after  the  death  of  their  leader.  He  had  doubt- 
less taught  that  the  true  church  depended  upon 
no  formal  authority  or  visible  organization,  but 
was  rather  a  company  of  believers  who  prac- 
ticed the  teachings  of  Jesus.  He  attacked  the 
direct  foundations  of  the  Roman  church  in  its 
doctrine  of  celibacy,  of  transubstantiation,  of 
sacred  services  and  of  sacred  places.  He  pro- 
posed a  religion  of  the  people,  who  were  di- 
rectly responsible  to  God  alone. 

The  Council  of  Constance,  1414-1418,  called 
to  settle  the  claims  of  rival  popes,  to  deal  with 
heresy,  secure  the  unity  and  authority  of  the 

162 


SOCIAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  ENGLAND 

church,  did  not  content  itself  with  condemning 
John  Huss  as  a  heretic  worthy  of  martyrdom, 
but  sent  its  anathema  across  the  sea  and  or- 
dered the  body  of  Wycliffe  to  be  torn  from  a 
dishonored  grave.  The  Lollards  had  especially 
preached  against  war,  but  the  martial  spirit 
ran  riot  in  the  Saxon  blood,  and  when  the  wars 
of  France  were  renewed,  it  had  been  easy  to 
stamp  out  a  movement  whose  heresy  was  peace. 
Ten  years  after  the  Council  of  Constance  the 
body  was  disinterred,  burned  to  ashes  and  the 
ashes  scattered  upon  the  water  flowing  into  the 
Avon.  He  was  not  dishonored  by  this  impotent 
fury,  for  wherever  winds  blew  or  waters  flowed 
they  carried  the  seed  of  the  new  democracy. 

The  upheaval  in  England,  represented  by  lit- 
erature in  Piers  Ploughman,  by  an  appeal  to 
force  in  the  mad  rebellion  urged  on  by  John 
Ball  and  Wat  Tyler,  and  by  an  appeal  to  the 
intellectual  in  Oxford  and  the  religious  among 
the  people,  though  not  wholly  without  guile,  as 
represented  by  John  Wycliffe,  was  only  a  part 
of  the  general  life  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
The  political  church  of  the  middle  ages  had 
done  its  work.  The  religious  church  founded 
by  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  alive  in  all  ages  as 
the  true  soul  of  the  visible  church,  manifesting 
itself  in  different  great  epochs  under  new  forms 

163 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  life,  could  be  nothing  else  than  a  protest 
against  tyranny  and  a  plea  for  the  rights  of 
men.  Already  it  had  achieved  great  results. 
It  was  to  go  forward  by  devious  ways,  to  be  be- 
set by  strange  foes,  to  suffer  from  the  mistakes 
of  unwise  friends,  but  it  could  never  die  out  in 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  VI 

LUTHER  AND  LIBERTY 

Martin  Luther,  1483-1546,  born  of  strong 
German  peasant  stock,  not  so  poor  as  the  Lu- 
ther stories  generally  describe,  and  much  more 
intelligent,  was  destined  to  become  the  central 
name  in  the  Protestant  imagination  and  the 
chiefest  hero  of  the  German  people.  The  new 
forms  of  Protestantism  have  needed  Luther 
with  his  doctrine  of  private  judgment ;  teachers 
of  the  creeds  have  needed  him  as  a  stalwart 
theologian;  German  rulers  have  used  his  doc- 
trines to  support  civil  authority ;  and  meantime 
all  men  have  rejoiced  in  him,  because  he  was 
elemental,  genuine,  perhaps  most  of  all  in  his 
mistakes,  so  intensely  human  and  a  man  of 
strength  so  deep  and  wide  that,  right  or  wrong, 
he  dwarfs  all  other  men  of  his  time,  and  stands 
revealed  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  in  human 
history.  He  was  not  so  great  a  saint  as  he  is 
described   in   Protestant    Sunday-schools,    nor 

165 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

was  he  so  dark  a  sinner  as  the  Jesuits  would 
have  us  believe.  He  was  not  the  infallible  Prot- 
estant Pope  revered  by  some  Lutheran  theolo- 
gians. Neither  was  he  a  man  easily  put  to  rout 
by  the  doctors  of  the  Roman  Church,  changing 
his  principles  as  he  did  his  clothes,  and  living 
a  life  of  mere  intellectual  tumult,  abundant  in- 
deed in  vitality  but  wholly  lacking  in  clearness 
and  consistency.  We  cannot  quite  trust  his 
friends  or  his  enemies.  But  he  was  brave  as  a 
soldier,  if  not  always  chivalrous  as  a  knight. 
He  was  the  embodiment  of  his  time,  the  prophet 
of  ages  yet  to  be,  and,  though  sometimes  a  jester 
and  on  occasions  a  man  of  pleasure,  he  was 
nevertheless  a  religious  genius  of  the  first  rank. 
He  preferred  the  Hebrews  to  the  Greeks,  and  so 
he  was  never  a  humanist.  He  mixed  in  secular 
affairs,  but  his  real  interests  were  religious.  In 
spite  of  the  multitude  of  books  about  the  man 
and  his  doctrines,  it  seems  to  me  that  his  real 
place  in  the  world's  history  has  never  been 
adequately  disclosed.  This  is  not  an  attempt 
to  perform  such  a  task;  but  to  continue  our 
study  by  estimating  the  relations  of  Luther  to 
liberty. 

Luther's  famous  doctrine  of  Justification  by 
Faith  is  not  based  upon  the  stone  steps  which 
he  is  said  to  have  ascended  upon  his  knees  in 

166 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

Rome,  but  upon  the  teachings  of  one  John 
Tauler.  He  was  the  same  man  who  taught  the 
duty  of  princes  and  prelates.  "Likewise  so  far 
as  it  rests  with  them,  let  them  be  the  first  to 
do  such  works  as  they  would  wish  to  see  their 
people  do,  for  then  their  subjects  must  needs 
follow  as  they  lead,  even  though  they  may  have 
been  beforehand  inclined  to  all  evil  and  vice 
and  hostile  to  their  superiors. ' ' 1  When  the 
Black  Death  swept  over  Europe  its  influence 
took  a  religious  form  in  the  society  known  as 
the  "Friends  of  God,"  and  these  societies,  not 
an  order  nor  yet  a  schism,  laid  a  foundation 
throughout  the  whole  of  Germany  for  the  doc- 
trines of  inward  piety  as  opposed  to  the  exter- 
nal forms  of  religion. 

It  is  perhaps  more  correct  to  say  that  Luther 
appealed  to  the  mystical  element  among  his 
people  rather  than  shared  it.  In  his  early  life, 
however,  long  before  he  thought  of  the  break 
with  Rome,  he  passed  through  all  the  experi- 
ences that  belonged  to  the  men  and  women  of 
various  ages  who  are  in  search  of  the  inner 
light.  The  life  of  Luther  himself  became  hu- 
man, joyous,  even  self-indulgent,  but  the  influ- 
ence of  the  mystics  was  upon  him  and  his  time. 
Long  after  it  continued  in  the  intellectual  life 

Sermons  of  John  Tauler,  New  York,  1858,  p.  467. 

167 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  Germany  and  helped  to  make  that  country 
the  home  of  speculative  philosophy. 

Before  proceeding  to  details  we  must  sweep 
the  horizon  and  seek  the  outlines  of  a  world 
view.  It  became  evident  in  the  study  of  the  Eng- 
land of  Wycliffe  that  certain  changes  were  tak- 
ing place  in  the  general  life  of  the  time.  What 
is  known  as  the  reformation  is  only  a  phase  of 
a  revolution  which  began  in  Europe  when  Paul 
crossed  over  and  preached  in  Greece.  His  let- 
ters and  the  gospels  which  soon  followed  fur- 
nished a  body  of  ideas  which  were  to  be  historic. 
They  attempted  a  social  regeneration  in  the 
days  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  Constantine. 
They  had  rooted  in  various  soils  and  had 
sprung  up  in  manifold  social  growths.  The 
great  days  of  the  church  and  of  the  empire  had 
left  substantial  institutions,  but  forces,  some 
of  them  manifest  and  some  unseen,  were  the 
promise  of  the  greatest  changes  in  all  history. 

The  church  lost  its  political  power  partly 
from  external  changes,  but  partly  from  the  de- 
cay of  the  empire  itself.  When  the  feudal  lords 
were  enfeebled  by  kings  on  the  one  side  and  by 
towns  on  the  other,  bishops  and  abbots  also 
became  less  important.  The  complexities  of 
European  life  gave  rise  to  nations  as  it  did  to 
languages.     We  have  a  twofold  process  quite 

168 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

familiar  to  those  acquainted  with  the  operation 
of  the  law  of  evolution.  On  the  one  side  there 
was  a  differentiation.  The  old  monotonous  or- 
ganization of  life  was  broken  up  and  the  new 
powers  were  springing  into  existence  every- 
where. On  the  other  hand,  new  and  intense  so- 
cial relationships  were  being  established. 

The  discovery  of  printing  by  movable  types 
made  the  thoughts  of  all  great  men  common 
property.  War  meant  something  different  with 
the  invention  of  gun  powder,  and  castles  with 
their  thick  walls  could  shelter  no  longer.  The 
spirit  of  adventure  was  guided  by  the  mariners ' 
compass  and  a  tremendous  shock  to  the  author- 
ity of  secular  science  and  religious  dogma  had 
come  in  the  immense  discovery  of  a  new  as- 
tronomy which  dethroned  the  earth  from  its 
central  place  in  the  universe  and  laid  the  foun- 
dations for  a  new  humility. 

The  intellectual  revolution  connected  with  the 
name  of  Copernicus  had  doubtless  a  larger  in- 
fluence upon  the  intellectual  life  of  the  world 
than  was  produced  by  the  achievements  of  any 
other  man.  This  founder  of  modern  astron- 
omy, whose  treatise  upon  the  revolutions  of  the 
celestial  orbs  was  only  published  to  the  world 
in  the  year  of  his  death,  passed  away  wholly 
unconscious  of  the  importance  of  his  service. 

169 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  new  birth  of  civilization,  called  The 
Renaissance,  was  not  a  single  form  of  life,  but 
a  new  garden  of  Eden,  crowded  with  divine 
growths.  It  resulted  from  the  culmination  and 
triumph  of  all  the  social  and  moral  processes 
we  have  been  considering,  and  many  more  be- 
sides. The  discovery  that  the  earth  was  a 
sphere  sent  Columbus  sailing  with  three  cara- 
vels to  find  a  new  way  to  India.  All  history  was 
a  continuous  process  as  old  as  the  world  and  as 
wide  as  the  race.  The  complexity  of  the  proc- 
ess and  its  inner  relationship  is  better  disclosed 
in  the  beginnings  of  what  we  call  modern  times 
than  at  any  other  period  of  history.  It  had 
taken  the  world  thousands  of  years  to  complete 
the  forms  of  art,  of  philosophy,  of  law  and  gov- 
ernment which  flowered  out  in  the  classical 
world.  It  is  not  the  slowness,  but  the  swiftness, 
of  the  process  by  which  the  new  world  was  con- 
structed upon  the  ruins  of  the  old  that  should 
give  us  surprise.  It  was  the  tremendous  dyna- 
mic of  a  universal  missionary  force  based  upon 
a  doctrine  that  made  all  men  of  essential  value. 
There  was  no  longer  Jew  or  Greek,  bond  or  free. 
In  the  new  world  order  the  different  states  of 
Europe,  characterized  by  language,  by  race,  and 
by  institutions,  slowly  emerged  like  continents 
elevating    themselves    above    chaotic    waters. 

170 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

Meantime,  while  political  institutions  became 
varied  and  distinct,  the  intellectual  life  of 
Europe  was  never  so  communal  and  the  social 
bonds  were  never  so  strong.  But  deeper  than 
any  consciousness,  individual  or  social,  were 
the  life  forces  that  held  the  age  together. 

At  the  very  time  when  Columbus  was  sailing 
stormy  seas  a  young  man  might  have  been 
seen  in  a  garden  in  Florence,  Italy.  The  Gar- 
den belonged  to  Lorenzo  de 'Medici,  and  the 
young  man  was  Michael  Angelo.  Scattered 
about  were  samples  and  fragments  of  Greek 
art,  statues,  torsos,  basso  relievos.  Michael 
Angelo  is  busy  with  a  mutilated  old  masque, 
representing  a  faun,  but  he  was  not  dreaming 
about  classical  greatness;  nor  was  he  looking 
forward  to  a  time  when  he  might  imitate  the 
object  under  his  hand.  By  the  discipline  of 
antiquity  he  was  learning  the  technique  for  his 
productive  genius,  and  the  faun  was  mere 
plastic  clay  by  which  he  fashioned  a  David  and 
created  a  St.  Peter's.  Dante,  in  Florence, 
closed  the  old  world,  and  Chaucer,  in  Eng- 
land, represented  the  beginning  of  a  new  move- 
ment in  literature.  The  thunder  of  another 
voice  was  heard  at  the  same  time  within 
the  church,  and  Savonarola  preached  in  Flor- 
ence when  Columbus  was  embarking  at  Palos. 

171 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Briefly,  we  see  that  the  new  life  had  various 
forms.  In  science  it  was  laying  the  founda- 
tions for  the  wealth  of  modern  knowledge;  in 
action  it  meant  coasting  ahout  Africa,  journey- 
ing to  the  Islands  of  the  Atlantic,  the  travels  of 
Marco  Polo,  and  the  discovery  of  America. 
Art  had  already  forsaken  the  classical  models 
because  they  were  inadequate  to  express  the 
imagination  and  aspiration  of  a  new  world. 
There  are  three  names  not  often  joined  to- 
gether, but,  after  all,  they  seem  to  me  the  great 
trinity  of  this  time.  They  are  Copernicus, 
Michael  Angelo  and  Martin  Luther,  represent- 
ing the  three  interests,  knowledge,  beauty  and 
religion. 

These  reflections  do  not  identify  what  is 
known  as  the  Eenaissance  with  what  is  some- 
times called  the  revival  of  learning.  In  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  Turk  had 
flung  himself  with  drawn  sword  in  the  pathway 
of  the  European  nations,  had  captured  Con- 
stantinople and  wandering  scholars  came  west- 
ward, carrying  with  them  a  few  manuscripts 
to  set  up  as  schoolmasters  in  the  West.  But 
the  thing  called  Humanism  was  something 
quite  different  from  the  knowledge  of  Greek 
authors.  It  was  a  fresh  view  of  life,  and  in 
spite  of  all  extravagances  with  it  we  return 

172 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

to  the  simple  joyousness  of  Jesus  contrasted 
with  the  ceremonial  piety  of  an  asceticism  which 
was  taught  rather  than  observed.  It  is  quite 
true  that  the  study  of  the  Greek  language  had 
a  great  revival,  and  that  the  Greek  spirit 
gushed  up  from  unsealed  fountains  in  the  hu- 
man heart.  But  the  Greek  learning  had  always 
dominated  the  Christian  church.  Aristotle  had 
laid  his  tremendous  spell  upon  theology,  while 
Plato  was  cherished  by  those  who  sought  di- 
rectness of  vision  rather  than  dialectic  form. 

The  spread  of  education,  hitherto  largely 
bound  up  with  monasteries,  was  an  adventure  of 
new-found  wealth.  It  was  one  of  the  natural 
expressions  of  the  new  municipal  life.  But 
neither  the  term  revival  of  learning  nor  the 
broader  term  Humanism  accounted  for  the 
great  movement  in  Germany  of  which  Luther 
was  the  mighty  master.  Humanism  had  per- 
haps its  best  exponent  in  the  person  of  Eras- 
mus, 1465-1536.  The  wandering  scholar  who 
knew  how  to  use  satire  against  churchmen  in 
his  "Praise  of  Folly/ '  but  who  would  not  join 
forces  with  Luther,  whom  he  disliked  as  a  man 
both  too  turbulent  and  too  serious,  yet  left  as 
his  chief  monument  an  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament.  It  is  quite  absurd  to  talk  about 
Humanism    and    the    revival    of    learning    as 

173 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

though  these  were  a  basis  of  antagonism  to  the 
Eoman  Church,  as  we  shall  see.  The  Vatican 
was  the  most  conspicuous  patron  of  the  new 
learning,  though  the  essence  of  the  period  was 
the  development  of  a  new  freedom  rather  than 
the  recovery  of  old  knowledge.  This  much  may 
be  said.  It  was  a  new  form  of  Greek  freedom. 
The  freedom  won  for  themselves  in  Athens  by 
great  thinkers,  poets  and  artists,  was  now  on 
the  way  to  be  the  inheritance  of  the  whole 
world.  Having  found  out  how  small  his  world 
is  man  was  beginning  to  feel  the  possibility 
of  his  own  greatness.  Struggling  out  of  his 
past  of  ignorance  and  fear  in  all  ranks  of  so- 
ciety he  was  seeking  to  find  a  larger  domain. 
He  had  the  spirit  for  it,  and  he  had  the  ma- 
terial. The  further  development  of  modern 
civilization  was  merely  a  matter  of  detail. 

It  cannot  be  made  too  clear  that  the  new  free- 
dom covered  the  whole  of  life  and  was  born  as 
the  result  of  the  travail  of  all  the  centuries. 
Scholars  moving  from  one  intellectual  center  to 
another  carried  with  them  far  more  of  the  so- 
cial spirit  than  did  the  traders,  who,  in  the 
earliest  days,  had  been  the  only  bond  of  influ- 
ence between  distant  tribes  and  peoples.  But 
the  traders,  too,  had  multiplied  with  the  rich- 
ness of  life  and  just  as  the  new  nations  became 

174 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

more  definite  in  language  and  in  social  order, 
so  became  more  multiplied  the  influences  of  a 
new  European  unity. 

The  empire  had  meant  a  unity  of  force,  and 
the  church  had  stood  for  a  unity  of  faith.  But 
the  new  time  is  by  no  means  so  simple.  Barons 
and  bishops  had  sought  for  wealth  and  power 
in  every  local  community.  There  came  an  in- 
sistent appeal  that  the  increase  of  wealth 
should  demand  and  secure  a  corresponding  rich- 
ness of  life.  It  was  not  political  freedom,  and 
it  was  not  religious  freedom  that  could  explain 
the  whole  of  the  movement.  Men  were  coming 
to  know  their  world  and  to  feel  safe  in  its  pos- 
session. The  sense  of  a  world  order  was  grow- 
ing, and  men  felt  more  secure.  New  processes 
of  manufacturing  and  a  wider  commerce  had 
filled  multitudes  of  homes  with  numberless  com- 
forts. Travel,  knowledge,  successful  enter- 
prise, new  sources  of  wealth,  combined  to  make 
at  once  a  new  man  in  a  new  world.  This  new 
man  set  out  upon  a  social  journey  and  the  har- 
bor was  further  off  and  more  difficult  to  reach 
than  that  which  Columbus  sought.  It  was  a 
perilous  journey,  but,  please  God,  one  day  it 
was  to  have  a  successful  termination.  The  goal 
he  sought  was  a  democracy  which  should  in- 
clude both  political  and  religious  freedom,  but 

175 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

with  them  vast  treasures  for  all  men  which  had 
never  been  recognized  by  statesmen  and  only 
dimly  seen  by  the  poets  and  the  prophets. 

It  was  a  time  of  action,  of  knowledge,  of  in- 
vention, of  creation  and  of  aspiration.  The 
greatness  of  the  time  was  not  only  an  essential 
vitality,  but  a  great  variety  in  action.  The 
great  names  come  at  once  to  the  memory  of 
every  student.  There  were  Erasmus,  Sir 
Thomas  More,  and  Cardinal  Wolsey;  Michael 
Angelo,  Eaphael  and  Albrecht  Diirer,  Para- 
celsus as  well  as  Copernicus;  Luther,  Calvin 
and  Zwingli;  besides  Henry  VIII,  Leo  X  and 
Ignatius  Loyola. 

We  must  return  to  our  study  of  Martin 
Luther  and  his  relation  to  his  time.  He  is  in- 
deed one  of  the  most  complex  natures  with 
whom  the  historian  has  to  deal.  His  great  and 
dominating  personality  is  one  of  the  phenom- 
ena of  human  history.  In  some  respects  he  is 
more  remarkable  than  Julius  Caesar  or  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte.  The  modern  social  scientist 
may  declare  that  "Martin  Luther  was  a  man  of 
faith  and  not  of  knowledge. ' '  Roman  authori- 
ties may  belittle  him  both  as  a  man  and  as  a 
reformer.  Protestants  may  bestow  upon  him 
indiscriminate  praise.  No  single  view  is  right, 
but  he  left  a  mark  upon  the  world  something 

176 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

like  that  made  on  Hebrew  history  by  the 
prophet  Elijah.  It  is  true  he  was  no  such 
scholar  as  Melanchthon,  nor  such  a  citizen  of  the 
world  as  Erasmus,  but  he  had  more  genius  than 
either  of  them.  He  incarnated  in  himself  forces 
that  had  been  existent  in  the  German  character 
from  the  beginning.  They  had  been  described 
by  Caesar  and  Tacitus.  He  loved  liberty,  and 
he  was  willing  to  fight  for  it.  He  also  liked  to 
rule,  and  he  was  willing  to  fight  for  that.  His 
translation  of  the  German  Bible  had  an  influ- 
ence only  surpassed  by  the  influence  of  the  ver- 
sion of  King  James  upon  the  English  speech. 
He  was  a  master  of  style,  though  he  was  often 
vulgar  and  virulent.  He  knew  how  to  reach 
the  human  passions,  and  with  what  words  to 
make  his  meaning  clear. 

Luther  must  not  be  thought  of,  however,  sim- 
ply as  a  reformer.  As  such  he  would  not  have 
appealed  to  men  like  Goethe  nor  to  the  whole 
German  world.  He  was  always  greater  than 
the  things  he  did,  and  he  was  always  better 
than  his  actions.  We  see  this  in  the  noblest 
souls.  One  thing  that  gives  him  his  power  over 
the  world  is  the  fact  that  he  was  so  human.  His 
Table  Talk  showed  that  he  was  no  ascetic;  in- 
deed, he  has  often  been  charged  with  being  too 
fond  of  what  are  known  as  the  good  things  of 
13  177 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

this  life.  In  that  Table  Talk  he  reveals  a  sense 
of  humor,  a  shrewd  insight  into  the  deepest  se- 
crets of  life,  a  love  of  nature  and  a  comradeship 
that  redeemed  him  from  the  qualities  of  most 
reformers.  Hans  Sachs  called  Luther  the 
"nightingale  of  Wittenberg, ' '  and  it  is  a  sug- 
gestive characterization.  His  own  poem,  ' '  The 
Death  of  Luther,' '  was  a  revolt  against  both 
nobility  and  clergy. 

He  was  a  warrior  as  well  as  an  orator,  but  he 
was  also  a  poet  and  a  lover  of  men.  Martin 
Luther  was  not  simply  an  idol  breaker.  He 
brought  worship  home  to  the  people  in  a  new 
and  direct  fashion.  He  made  his  pulpit  a  place 
of  power.  His  doctrines  and  even  his  moral 
teachings  may  have  limitations  easily  seen  by 
wise  critics.  But  his  work  was  greater  than  his 
doctrines,  and  his  hymn,  "A  Mighty  Fortress 
Is  Our  God,"  was  not  only  a  battle  hymn  for 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  but  it  still  goes  singing  its 
way  through  the  generations,  and  it  is  a  greater 
contribution  to  religious  life  than  any  Lutheran 
dogma  ever  expounded.  If  the  time  comes 
when  men  shall  cease  to  sing  it  because  they 
have  become  wiser  than  its  words,  its  rhythmic 
power  will  still  surge  on  forever  renewed  in  the 
life-blood  of  the  race.  The  power  incarnate 
in  Martin  Luther  was  the  great  Gothic  soul 

178 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

and  the  social  forces  which  he  represented 
are  still  at  work  in  the  making  of  the  modern 
world. 

A  review  of  the  detail  of  the  activities  and 
teachings  of  Martin  Luther  will  show  strange 
contradictions.  Were  his  influence  confined  to 
his  place  in  the  religious  history  of  the  world, 
this  chapter  could  not  have  been  written.  But 
Goethe,  Herder,  Hegel,  owe  as  much  to  Martin 
Luther  as  any  Lutheran  pastor.  Nay,  from  him 
such  men  received  much  more. 

There  is  a  contradiction  between  the  begin- 
ning and  the  conclusion  of  his  public  career. 
He  was  too  elemental  a  man  to  be  consistent 
and  too  much  the  man  of  action  to  care  whether 
he  were  or  not.  The  movement  that  he  repre- 
sented was  not  like  the  opening  of  new  canals 
for  peaceful  commerce  and  quiet  enrichment, 
it  was  the  raging  of  a  turbulent  river  overflow- 
ing its  banks  with  a  mighty  freshet,  often  carry- 
ing away  the  good  with  the  evil,  but  leaving  the 
fields  of  human  life  with  a  deeper  and  more  pro- 
ductive soil.  Some  men  are  so  manifold  and 
their  life  becomes  the  channel  of  such  important 
social  forces  that  it  seems  more  easy  to  forgive 
their  sins  than  to  describe  them,  and  to  ignore 
their  mistakes  than  to  disclose  them.  But  there 
must  be  some  definite  review  of  the  work  of 

179 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Martin  Luther  as  it  bears  upon  the  problem 
of  modern  democracy. 

The  career  of  every  man,  however,  depends 
upon  the  institutions  with  which  he  comes  in 
contact,  and  the  men  who  represent  them. 
Great  as  was  the  personality  of  Martin  Luther, 
his  work  would  have  been  impossible  had  not 
the  political  and  economic  conditions  given  it 
opportunity.  We  have  already  seen  the  break- 
ing forth  of  new  life  in  the  world,  and  have 
noted  the  spirit  which  filled  Europe  from  Italy 
to  England  with  a  sense  of  freedom  and  of 
power.  It  is  necessary  to  consider  now  some 
of  the  men  and  some  of  the  conditions  with 
which  Martin  Luther  came  vitally  into  contact. 

Turning  our  attention  to  Eome,  in  the  same 
year  that  Columbus  sailed  for  America,  Alex- 
ander VI  ascended  the  papal  throne.  This 
ruler  of  the  church,  perhaps  more  than  any 
other  man,  weakened  the  moral  foundations  of 
the  power  of  the  papacy.  His  son,  Caesar 
Borgia,  had  no  moral  scruples;  betrayal  and 
assassination  were  his  constant  weapons.  As 
great  in  passion  as  he  was  in  will,  he  controlled 
Rome  and  all  its  dependencies.  Alexander's 
character  was  complicated  by  his  love  of  pleas- 
ure and  of  ease  on  the  one  hand  and  by  his  am- 
bition for  himself  and  his  children  upon  the 

180 


LUTHER   AND   LIBERTY 

other.  There  was  no  vice  of  which  he  was  not 
guilty,  and  there  was  no  weapon  which  he 
shrunk  from  using.  Sanuto  gives  an  account  of 
his  death,  in  which  he  declares  that  the  pope 
was  poisoned  by  a  box  of  sweetmeats  which  he 
intended  for  his  guest,  Cardinal  Corneto.  It  is 
said  that  he  won  over  the  servant  of  the  pope 
to  change  the  sweetmeats  by  a  gift  of  ten  thou- 
sand ducats  in  gold.  Another  story  is  that  it 
was  a  cup  of  wine  that  contained  the  poison. 
Some  have  thought  that  the  Cardinal  himself 
planned  and  carried  out  the  poisoning  of  the 
pope  on  his  own  initiative.  Whatever  may  be 
the  truth  of  these  narrations,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Alexander  VI  left  the  papal  states 
rid  of  some  of  their  most  dangerous  enemies, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  betrayed  the  dignity 
of  the  position  he  occupied. 

Julius  II  succeeded  Alexander  in  1503,  and 
for  ten  years  he  labored  with  energy  to  con- 
firm and  extend  the  temporal  power  of  the 
church.  What  he  lacked  in  his  self-control  he 
made  up  in  his  power  to  control  others.  Ap- 
parently without  fear  of  God  or  man  he  di- 
rected all  his  efforts  toward  extending  his  do- 
minions. In  the  tempest  of  battle  he  was  able 
to  control  all  his  faculties.  He  was  a  warrior 
pope,  and  took  the  field  in  person,  led  the  bat- 

181 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

tie  against  the  Venetians,  extended  his  do- 
minions and  made  his  palace  the  dwelling-place 
of  a  King  of  Men  as  well  as  of  a  Father  of  the 
Church.  The  nobility  within  his  domain  were 
entirely  snbdned  and  he  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  temporal  rulers  with  whom  monarchs 
must  needs  reckon. 

Such  were  the  men  who  ruled  the  church  dur- 
ing the  early  life  of  Martin  Luther.  But  the 
man  upon  the  papal  throne  through  the  critical 
years  of  his  great  revolt  over  its  authority  was 
Leo  X,  son  of  Lorenzo  de 'Medici.  Never  was 
there  a  greater  contrast  between  two  men  than 
between  the  Reformer  and  the  Pope.  Leo  X 
was  born  in  Florence,  and  upon  almost  every 
stone  of  that  great  center  of  art  the  family 
name  is  stamped.  It  was  in  his  father's  gar- 
den that  we  have  seen  Michael  Angelo  at  work, 
and  it  was  that  artist  who  adorned  the  chapel 
of  the  Medici  with  some  of  his  most  impressive 
marbles.  From  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  family  had  been  supreme  in  Flor- 
ence or  in  Tuscany  and  for  nearly  four  hun- 
dred years  maintained  their  place.  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  cared  for  art  and  letters  as 
his  ancestors  had  loved  wealth  and  power.  Gio- 
vanni, the  second  son,  was  destined  for  the 
church  from  childhood.    He  became  a  cardinal 

182 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

at  seventeen  and  pope  at  thirty-eight  years  of 
age.  All  the  splendors  of  the  new  Humanism 
were  poured  out  upon  his  luminous  mind  and 
joyous  life.  Poets,  philosophers  and  artists 
were  his  daily  companions.  When  he  came  to 
the  papal  throne  he  neither  shared  the  crimes 
of  Alexander  VI  nor  the  martial  spirit  of  Julius 
II,  but  he  was  a  man  of  genius  who  would  have 
been  conspicuous  in  any  place  or  at  any  time. 
Eome  became  the  intellectual  and  artistic  cen- 
ter of  the  world  as  well  as  its  religious  capital. 
He  was  the  patron  of  Greek  learning  and  was 
himself  an  intelligent  critic  of  music  and  the 
drama.  He  was  an  able  ruler  and  a  shrewd 
diplomat,  and  met  the  difficulties  of  his  position 
and  the  problems  of  his  time  with  skill. 

He  was  not  only  a  man  of  affairs  but  a  man 
of  the  world.  Booted  and  spurred,  at  nightfall, 
with  a  few  companions,  he  would  often  leave  his 
palace  and  dash  off  on  horseback  to  some  near- 
by resort.  When  the  autumn  came  he  loved  to 
make  his  home  in  the  country  and  to  forget  the 
cares  of  state.  With  a  hawk  at  his  wrist,  like 
any  knight,  he  went  out  to  hunt,  and  in  the  for- 
ests and  about  Corneto  he  pursued  the  stag.  In 
some  of  the  lakes  he  found  good  fishing,  and  in 
all  his  temporary  residences  he  was  accom- 
panied by  delightful  companions.     He  was  al- 

183 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

most  everything  that  a  prince  ought  to  be,  in- 
tellectual, self-controlled,  a  lover  of  peace,  gen- 
erous and  high  minded ;  he  was  a  lover  of  pleas- 
ure as  well  as  a  patron  of  learning,  but  he  was 
also  industrious  in  matters  of  business  as  well 
as  fond  of  poetry,  music  and  the  theater.  He 
avoided  the  gross  sins  of  his  predecessors  and 
he  attended  to  the  usual  religious  observances 
prescribed  by  the  church.  If  he  was  no  saint, 
he  was  at  least  a  gentleman. 

Luther  had  a  sense  of  beauty  also,  but  it  was 
never  developed,  except  in  the  direction  of 
music  and  in  the  love  of  nature.  When  he  took 
his  journey  to  Eome,  as  he  passed  through 
Florence,  it  is  said  that  he  visited  the  hospitals, 
but  not  the  works  of  art.  At  this  time  Luther 
was  a  medieval  monk  with  a  deeply  religious 
nature  that  subjected  him  to  alternate  expe- 
riences of  depression  and  exaltation.  There 
seems  no  evidence  that  the  visit  to  Eome  shook 
his  faith,  for  the  suggestive  and  outstanding 
fact  is  that  he  visited  the  shrines  and  performed 
manifold  devotions,  and  there  seems  no  trace 
of  any  influence  of  the  new  intellectual  life  so 
abundant  in  beauty  and  freedom  of  which  Leo 
X  became  the  most  conspicuous  patron.  The 
pope  spent  money  freely  upon  his  scholars  and 
artists,  as  well  as  upon  the  members  of  his  own 

184 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

family.  He  had  no  proper  sense  of  financial 
affairs.  With  a  lavish  bounty  he  scattered  all 
the  money  that  he  could  lay  hands  on,  and  then 
replenished  the  depleted  treasury  by  methods 
which  were  often  doubtful. 

It  was  the  financial  necessities  of  Eome  that 
led  to  the  sale  of  indulgences,  which  might  have 
been  endured  had  it  not  been  for  the  still  larger 
drain  from  endowments  by  which  the  church 
in  every  country  was  impoverishing  both  peo- 
ples and  princes. 

The  political  situation  is  a  little  more  diffi- 
cult to  make  clear  in  a  brief  statement  than  is 
the  condition  of  the  church.  Maximilian,  1459- 
1519,  was  head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  from 
1493  until  his  death.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
however,  was  by  no  means  a  complete  and  sys- 
tematic political  organization  covering  a  given 
territory.  It  had  already  lost  the  vigor  of  its 
ancient  leaders.  War  took  place  between 
barons  and  princes  without  the  consent  of  the 
throne  and  the  emperor  was  chief  of  a  more  or 
less  turbulent  confederation  rather  than  the 
head  of  the  nation. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Charles  V,  1500-1558, 
who  became  king  of  Spain,  1516,  and  was  elected 
emperor  upon  the  death  of  Maximilian  and 
crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1520.    He  had  an 

185 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

imperial  name,  but  the  power  depended  upon 
the  personality  of  the  man  and  his  army.  The 
German  princes  not  only  elected  their  emperor 
but,  for  the  most  part,  got  along  very  well  with- 
out him.  It  is  the  strength  of  the  German 
princes  that  must  be  counted  one  of  the  chief 
forces  in  the  German  reformation.  The  church 
had  lost  the  power  that  it  had  in  the  day  of  In- 
nocent III  long  before  the  Reformation.  The 
reforms  of  Hildebrand  had  in  many  parts  of 
Europe  fallen  into  decay.  Bishoprics  were  con- 
trolled by  princes  and  nobles ;  the  church  lacked 
the  old-time  solidarity.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
empire  was  threatened  upon  the  East  by  the 
Turks,  who  deserve  indeed  to  be  prayed  for  in 
every  Protestant  ritual,  for  the  diversion  of 
their  danger  furnished  occupation  for  both 
ruler  and  army,  and  left  the  German  reformers 
an  opportunity  for  action. 

The  situation  briefly  summed  up  is  this: 
The  whole  civilized  world  felt  the  culmi- 
nating influence  of  a  multitude  of  spirit- 
ual and  intellectual  forces  that  made  for 
a  larger  vision  and  laid  claim  to  a  freer,  richer 
life. 

The  church  nominally  united  had  almost  lost 
its  old  imperial  sway  over  the  consciences  of 
men,  and  neither  the  sensualism  of  Alexander 

186 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

nor  the  humanism  of  Leo  was  adequate  to  the 
task  of  meeting  the  new  conditions. 

Increase  of  manufactures  and  commerce  had 
multiplied  human  wants  as  well  as  increased  the 
wealth  of  the  world.  A  great  middle  class  had 
arisen  who  were  demanding  and  obtaining  far 
more  of  the  good  and  joy  of  life  than  their  an- 
cestors had  ever  dreamed  possible. 

The  new  centers  of  political  life  about  which 
have  been  formed  the  modern  nations  were  com- 
ing to  self -consciousness  and  a  new  internation- 
alism disturbed  the  old  order.  The  Holy  Ro- 
man Empire  was  to  continue  for  some  time  to 
come,  but  from  it  the  scepter  of  absolutism  had 
already  departed.  Despite  the  increase  of 
wealth  in  the  world  the  financial  exigencies  of 
the  church  and  the  enormous  value  of  the  en- 
dowments of  the  various  orders  created  a  dis- 
tinct economic  problem.  This  problem  was  en- 
larged by  the  necessities  of  the  new-forming 
nations  and  by  the  ambitions  of  princes  who  de- 
sired to  be  kings. 

Meantime  below  the  middle  classes  were  the 
multitudes  of  peasants,  seeing  with  their  dull 
eyes  evidences  of  a  larger  world  in  which  they 
had  no  share,  of  an  increasing  wealth  which 
brought  to  them  no  comforts,  and  in  a  dull  way 
responding  also  to  the  intellectual  life  of  the 

187 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

new  time  and  beginning  also  to  ask  questions. 
Some  of  them  were  to  be  answered  at  no  distant 
day,  and  some  of  them  are  still  waiting  for  a 
new  gospel  of  economics  which  the  common  peo- 
ple will  gladly  hear. 

Among  the  hills  and  forests  of  central  Ger- 
many, far  removed  from  the  centers  of  the 
world's  life,  was  born  to  Hans  and  Margaret 
Lnther,  in  the  year  1483,  the  child  Martin, 
whose  name  was  to  fill  the  world.  It  is  not 
needful  to  spend  time  here  upon  the  details  of 
his  early  life.  The  earliest  years  were  those 
of  wretched  poverty,  out  of  which  the  sturdy 
Hans  was  to  rise  step  by  step;  for  though  he 
began  as  a  common  miner  he  became  an  em- 
ployer of  labor  and  the  highest  officer  of  his 
town.  These  German  peasants  were  as  fierce 
as  they  were  sturdy,  and  ruled  the  child  with  a 
rod  of  iron.  They  were  as  godly  as  they  were 
stern  and  brought  their  son  up  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  of  the  church.  His  early  years  showed 
no  signs  of  brilliant  scholarship  in  Martin 
Luther,  but  it  was  only  through  the  school  that 
he  could  rise  to  distinction  in  the  world.  He 
begged  and  he  sang  his  way  through  his  early 
years  until  he  found  himself  at  last  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Erfurt.  He  learned  Latin  and  logic 
and  really  not  much  beside.     Although  in  the 

188 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

education  of  the  medieval  world  the  prophet 
was  Aristotle,  it  was  only  in  after  years  that 
the  Eeformer  studied  Greek  and  Hebrew  in 
order  to  obtain  a  closer  knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

He  began  to  study  law,  but  suddenly  he 
changed  his  mind  and  decided  upon  the  re- 
ligious vocation.  There  are  various  stories 
about  it.  Some  say  it  was  the  pestilence  that 
carried  off  some  of  his  friends,  and  others  say 
that  it  was  the  shock  of  a  thunderstorm,  that 
broke  in  upon  the  calm  of  the  young  man 's  soul. 
Not  so  are  the  great  vocations  of  life  de- 
termined. His  whole  early  life  was  surrounded 
by  an  atmosphere  of  the  supernatural,  for  was 
not  this  very  country  the  favorite  dwelling- 
place  of  fairies,  gnomes,  ghosts,  and  devils? 
Luther  himself  possessed  a  profound  emotional 
and  religious  nature,  and  above  the  elemental 
forces  of  his  character  any  scholarship  that  he 
had  won  at  the  University  or  was  ever  to  win 
was  like  a  thin  crust  over  unspeakable  deeps. 

He  entered  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Er- 
furt, passed  through  his  novitiate,  which  has  for 
us  the  significant  incident  that  there  he  discov- 
ered and  read  a  copy  of  the  Latin  Bible.  He 
was  ordained  a  priest  in  1508.  Less  than  two 
years  afterward  he  was  called  to  teach  in  the 
newly    founded     University    of    Wittenberg. 

189 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

After  a  year  back  he  goes  to  Erfurt,  though 
there  is  some  doubt  about  the  reason  for  the  re- 
turn. The  truth  seems  to  be  that  it  was  to  pre- 
pare for  a  change  from  teaching  ethics  to  teach- 
ing theology.  It  is  during  this  stay  at  Erfurt 
that  he  was  sent  upon  the  momentous  journey 
to  Eome  as  companion  to  von  Mecheln  on  busi- 
ness connected  with  the  monastic  order.  Of  the 
business  we  hear  little,  and  in  it  Luther  seems 
to  have  had  no  real  part.  But  he  is  out  in  the 
world.  He  had  conversed  with  men  and  some 
priests  had  told  him  that  they  doubted  the  su- 
premacy and  the  infallibility  of  the  pope.  The 
Peasant-Reformer,  brought  up  in  privation  and 
having  always  lived  an  austere  life,  was  doubt- 
less shocked  by  many  of  the  things  which  he 
saw  and  heard. 

This  journey  of  Luther's  was  even  more  mo- 
mentous to  the  history  of  the  world  than  the 
Italian  journey  of  one  of  his  later  countrymen, 
von  Goethe. 

In  1512  Luther  is  again  in  Wittenberg,  which 
henceforth  is  his  throne  of  power.  He  has  be- 
come a  doctor  and  teacher  of  theology,  and  two 
years  later  he  became  a  preacher  in  the  city 
church.  He  was  successful  as  a  teacher,  but  in 
an  age  which  had  few  great  orators  he  was  soon 
enthroned  as  the  mightiest  preacher  of  his  time. 

190 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

Simple,  colloquial,  vehement,  passionate,  at 
times  his  genius  burned  with  a  steady  flame, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  great  masters  of  the  com- 
mon mind.  He  thought  in  pictures,  but  he  un- 
derstood the  human  heart,  and  he  always  felt 
himself  a  prophet  taught  of  God.  With  all  this 
teaching  and  preaching,  he  was  still  an  earnest 
churchman,  and  in  1515  was  appointed  as  vicar 
in  charge  of  the  monasteries  of  the  district  in 
which  he  lived. 

In  the  year  1517  there  began  the  great  trag- 
edy of  the  Eoman  Church.  A  certain  Johann 
Tetzel,  a  man  evidently  of  great  popular  power 
and  belonging  to  the  Dominican  order,  was  the 
agent  of  the  Primate  of  Germany.  Indulgences 
had  been  sold  long  before,  and  the  theory  of 
the  church  with  respect  to  them  was  quite  cor- 
rect. That  is  to  say,  it  was  self-consistent. 
The  penitent  was  pardoned  by  absolution  of  the 
priest ;  he,  therefore,  had  no  longer  the  fear  of 
hell,  but  there  remained  penance  in  this  world 
or  in  the  next.  It  was  this  penance  from  which 
men  were  set  free  by  what  was  known  as  an  in- 
dulgence. The  doctrine  was  correct  enough, 
but  the  practice  came  to  mean  something  quite 
different.  The  indulgence  came  to  be  regarded 
as  the  valid  work  of  an  authorized  agent  of  the 
papal  throne  and  a  perfect  assurance  of  heaven. 

191 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Even  this  was  not  so  bad  as  the  commercial 
side  of  the  transaction.  We  have  already  seen 
how  prodigal  in  the  use  of  money  was  Leo  X 
and  how  careless  he  was  of  the  measures  by 
which  he  replenished  his  treasury.  The  old 
heroic  days  of  Hildebrand  with  his  reformation 
lay  far  behind,  and  Albert,  Archbishop  and  Pri- 
mate of  Germany,  was  compelled  to  pay  an 
enormous  sum  for  the  confirmation  of  his  of- 
fices. In  return  Pope  Leo  permitted  the  sale  of 
indulgences  for  the  benefit  of  the  archbishop. 
The  transaction  was  carried  on  through  the 
Dominican  monks.  The  regular  clergy,  of 
course,  did  not  profit  by  it.  The  finances  of  the 
country  were  affected  as  well  as  those  of  the 
church,  and  some  of  the  princes  of  Germany 
rebelled  against  the  bargain.  Tetzel  at  last 
drew  near  to  Wittenberg  and  Luther  denounced 
him  from  his  pulpit.  That  did  not  content  his 
eager  soul.  He  proposed  to  debate  the  question 
and  posted  upon  the  door  of  his  church  the  im- 
mortal ninety-five  theses  which  he  was  willing 
to  defend  against  all  comers. 

The  greatest  deeds  of  the  greatest  men  are 
doubtless  never  done  of  conscious  purpose. 
Luther,  himself,  was  as  much  astonished  as  any 
other  man  to  discover  that  the  blow  of  his  ham- 
mer was  heard  resounding  through  the  whole 

192 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

of  Europe.  The  propositions  were  printed  and 
circulated  everywhere.  They  were  the  theme  in 
all  circles  of  society,  and  underneath  every  ec- 
clesiastical edifice  those  who  were  sheltered  felt 
the  shaking  of  an  earthquake.  The  issues  were 
made  clear,  as  the  following  articles  will  show : 
11.  "The  erroneous  opinion  that  canonical 
penance  and  punishment  in  purgatory  are  the 
same  assuredly  seems  to  be  a  tare  sown  while 
the  bishops  were  asleep.' '  21.  "Therefore 
those  preachers  of  indulgences  err  who  say  that 
a  papal  pardon  frees  a  man  from  all  penalty 
and  assures  his  salvation.' '  28.  "It  is  certain 
that  avarice  is  fostered  by  the  money  chinking 
in  the  chest,  but  to  answer  the  prayers  of  the 
church  is  in  the  power  of  God  alone."  36. 
"Every  Christian  truly  repentant  has  full  re- 
mission of  guilt  and  penalty  even  without  let- 
ters of  pardon."  50.  "Christians  are  to  be 
taught  that  if  the  Pope  knew  the  exactions 
of  the  preachers  of  indulgences  he  would 
rather  have  St.  Peter's  church  in  ashes  than 
have  it  built  with  the  flesh  and  bones  of  his 
sheep. ' ' 

Ecclesiastics  in  Germany  and  elsewhere  were 
all  aroused  except,  it  seems,  Pope  Leo  X  him- 
self.   Luther  was  an  Augustinian,  Tetzel  was  a 
Dominican,  and  so  the  careless  humanist  is  said 
14  193 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

to  have  remarked,  "  It  is  only  a  quarrel  between 
the  German  monks. ' ' 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  follow  the  transaction 
nor  to  characterize  the  Leipsic  debate  with 
John  Eck.  Whether  Luther  was  overwhelmed 
in  that  controversy  or  not  is  a  matter  of  no 
consequence.  About  it  there  are  two  opinions. 
There  can  be  no  difference  of  opinion  about  the 
spread  of  the  great  revolution.  The  printing 
press  was  perhaps  a  more  important  agent  than 
public  speech.  Luther  knew  how  to  write  to  the 
people  as  well  as  to  the  princes.  His  style  was 
vivid,  direct,  impassioned,  sometimes  it  was 
coarse,  brutal,  and  in  controversy  always 
barbed  with  invective.  People  read  him  then  as 
they  do  now  the  most  popular  novelists.  It  was 
not  only  on  account  of  what  he  had  to  say,  but 
it  was  his  elemental  courage,  afraid  of  neither 
men  nor  devils. 

Yet  Luther  was  not  even  then  intending  to 
leave  the  church.  In  1519  Luther  wrote  a  let- 
ter of  practical  submission  to  Pope  Leo  X  in 
these  words:  "I  have  never  had  the  slightest 
wish  to  attack  the  power  of  the  Eoman  Church 
or  Your  Holiness.  ...  I  also  gladly  prom- 
ise to  let  the  question  of  indulgences  drop  and 
be  silent  if  my  opponents  restrain  their  boast- 
ful and  empty  talk. ' ' 

194 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

In  spite  of  this  submission  the  rising  tide 
swept  him  on,  and  in  the  next  year  he  wrote 
the  three  great  pamphlets  which  are  the  foun- 
dation and  substance  of  his  message  to  the 
world.  The  first  was  "To  the  Christian  No- 
bility of  the  German  Nation.' '  In  this 
pamphlet  he  assails  the  three  walls  of  the  Bo- 
man  church.  '  '  The  first  wall  is  that,  if  the  civil 
authority  presses  them,  they  affirm  that  civil 
government  has  no  rights  over  them,  but  con- 
trariwise spiritual  over  temporal.  Secondly,  if 
one  would  punish  them  by  the  Bible,  they  op- 
pose it  by  saying  that  no  one  has  a  right  to  in- 
terpret the  Bible  except  the  Pope.  Thirdly,  if 
they  are  threatened  with  a  general  council,  they 
pretend  that  only  the  pope  has  a  right  to  sum- 
mon a  council.  So  they  have  privily  stolen 
three  rods  from  us  to  remain  unpunished,  and 
they  have  entrenched  themselves  in  these  three 
walls  to  do  all  rascality  and  evil.  .  .  .  May 
God  now  give  us  one  of  the  trumpets  by  which 
the  walls  of  Jericho  were  thrown  down.,, 

But  there  were  other  parts  of  the  pamphlet 
more  important.  The  statement,  "  Germany 
gives  more  to  the  Pope  than  to  the  Emperor," 
shows  the  economic  and  political  appeal.  The 
church  should  be  rid  of  its  dignities,  he  said, 
and  most  of  its  offices  should  be  abolished.    The 

195 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

civil  power  should  be  supreme;  monasteries 
should  be  suppressed,  and  the  legal  authority  of 
Eome  should  be  done  away.  The  second 
pamphlet,  on  ' '  The  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the 
Church,"  indicates  how  far  he  had  gone  since 
his  letter  of  submission  to  Pope  Leo,  for  it  is 
essentially  an  attack  upon  the  sacramental  sys- 
tem of  the  church.  He  denies  the  seven  sacra- 
ments and  insists  there  are  only  three.  He  de- 
mands the  cup  for  the  laity  in  communion,  and 
his  doctrine  of  marriage  is  stated  in  terms  that 
his  best  friends  cannot  defend.  The  third 
pamphlet  on  "The  Liberty  of  Christian  Men" 
is  his  essential  declaration  of  independence. 
Among  other  things  he  says :  "  A  Christian  man 
is  the  most  free  lord  of  all,  subject  to  none." 
This  refers  to  external  control.  "A  Christian 
man  is  the  dutiful  servant  of  all,  subject  to 
every  one.,,  This  statement  is  based  upon  the 
doctrine  of  that  love  which  compels  men  to 
service.  Men  are  saved  by  faith  and  not 
by  works.  Ecclesiastical  distinctions  are  of 
no  account.  All  believers  are  not  only  free 
kings  of  all,  but  are  priests  forever.  Good 
works  are  indeed  to  be  encouraged,  but  they 
do  not  make  a  good  man.  Eather  a  good 
man  united  to  Christ  by  faith  performs  good 
works. 

196 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

We  have  in  these  three  pamphlets  the  sub- 
stance of  Luther's  message  to  the  world.  The 
state  must  be  free  from  the  shackles  of  the 
church.  The  church  must  rid  herself  of  her 
pomp  and  pride,  but  deepest  of  all  the  free  hu- 
man soul  has  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty 
and  necessity  of  finding  God  direct.  The  issue 
was  clearly  drawn  and  the  struggle  was  mo- 
mentous. Princes  and  ecclesiastics  were  busy 
and  every  town  and  hamlet  was  full  of  the  noise 
of  battle. 

The  emperor,  Charles  V,  opened  his  national 
assembly,  commonly  called  "The  Diet  of 
Worms,' '  composed  of  the  greatest  men  of  his 
realm,  and  having  for  its  purpose  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  empire  and  the  definition  of  the 
relations  between  empire  and  church.  We  have 
seen  dramatic  moments  before,  but  nothing  in 
the  history  of  human  freedom  compares  with 
the  appearance  of  the  discredited  monk,  Martin 
Luther,  before  his  emperor  and  the  most  bril- 
liant assembly  that  the  world  could  then  com- 
mand. It  was  one  mighty  peasant  fronting 
both  church  and  state.  It  was  demanded  of 
him  that  he  recant  his  heresies.  His  final  an- 
swer rings  through  the  ages : ' '  Unless  I  am  con- 
victed by  Scripture  or  by  right  reason,  I  neither 
can  nor  will  recant  anything,  since  it  is  neither 

197 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

• 

right  nor  safe  to  act  against  conscience.  God 
help  me.  Amen.''  In  his  own  person  he  had 
incarnated  the  doctrine  of  private  judgment, 
and  in  demanding  freedom  of  conscience  for 
himself  as  with  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  he 
demanded  freedom  for  all  men. 

He  had  received  a  safe  conduct  from  the  em- 
peror to  attend  the  assembly.  His  friends, 
however,  feared  for  his  life.  On  his  journey 
he  was  apparently  captured,  but  the  hands  that 
seized  him  were  the  servants  of  the  great  Elec- 
tor of  Saxony.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  Wart- 
burg,  an  old  Gothic  castle  in  one  of  the  most 
splendid  locations  in  the  Thuringian  forest. 
There  are  still  to  be  seen  the  room  in  which 
Luther  did  his  work  and  the  spot  upon  the  wall 
where  smote  his  inkstand  as  he  flung  it  at  his 
ancient  enemy,  the  devil.  In  spite  of  his  mag- 
nificent courage  and  perhaps  partly  because  of 
his  life  of  inaction,  he  had  days  of  deep  depres- 
sion. But  it  was  in  the  Wartburg  that  he  un- 
dertook the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Ger- 
man. It  was  revised  by  Melanchthon  and 
others,  and  became  the  great  popular  version 
for  his  people. 

The  Keformation  spread,  the  religious  houses 
were  secularized,  and  the  condemnation  of 
Luther  by  the  Diet  of  Worms  had  no  effect. 

198 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

The  Emperor  was  too  busy  with  his  political 
and  military  cares  to  carry  on  a  warfare  which 
had  now  become  one,  not  against  a  recalcitrant 
monk,  but  against  the  body  of  the  German  peo- 
ple. It  would  seem  to  many  readers  an  unwar- 
ranted statement,  but  doubtless  history  will 
eventually  record  that  the  real  work  of  Martin 
Luther  was  practically  accomplished  before  his 
return  to  Wittenberg,  and  that  the  rest  of  the 
movement  would  have  been  better  in  other 
hands. 

This  revolution  was  wider  than  the  church 
and  greater  than  any  single  man.  It  was  not  a 
question  of  the  relations  between  princes  and 
priests,  but  fundamentally  it  meant  a  reorgani- 
zation of  human  society.  The  hour  of  the  mod- 
ern world  had  struck.  Forces  which  had  been 
at  work  through  generations  were  recasting  the 
whole  of  human  life.  Luther,  himself,  had  at- 
tacked rulers  as  well  as  ecclesiastics  for  the 
abuses  of  their  power.  He  had  developed  the 
doctrine  of  private  judgment  and  the  freedom 
of  the  human  conscience.  He  had  declared  not 
alone  for  the  priesthood  of  the  people,  but  for 
its  kingship  as  well.  It  is  not  easy  to  start  a 
great  revolution,  but  it  is  still  more  difficult  to 
control  one  after  it  is  begun.  When  the  people 
were  freed  from  the  control  of  authority  in  re- 

199 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

ligion,  they  also  began  to  revolt  against  au- 
thority in  the  state. 

Some  of  the  same  conditions  which  we  have 
seen  existent  in  England  were  to  be  found  in 
Germany.  There  was  tempest  everywhere.  The 
peasantry  of  the  country  were  anxious  to  be  rid 
of  feudal  burdens  too  grievous  to  be  borne.  The 
towns  also  had  taken  up  the  gage  against  the 
feudal  system.  On  the  other  hand,  the  poor 
people  in  the  towns  were  in  conflict  with  its 
guilds  and  its  merchants.  Luther  was  a  great 
leader  of  men,  but  these  social  forces  were  soon 
beyond  his  control,  and  men  like  Karlstadt, 
Strauss,  Stein  and  Muenzer  preached  social  re- 
form as  the  direct  outcome  of  the  religious  re- 
volt. They  declared  that  the  book  of  Deuter- 
onomy should  be  put  into  practice.  Luther  him- 
self had  declared  against  the  exactions  of  the 
money  lender.  These  men  said  that  no  interest 
should  be  exacted  upon  loans,  and  there  should 
be  a  Mosaic  year  of  Jubilee.  Muenzer  was  a 
man  of  great  vigor,  and  with  the  popular  gift 
of  speech.  He  and  his  fellows  preached  the  doc- 
trine of  a  kingdom  of  saints  and  the  baptism 
of  believers.  This  kingdom  of  saints  was  to  be 
visible  upon  the  earth  and  was  to  be  manifest 
in  a  community  of  goods.  Tyrants  and  the  un- 
godly were  to  be  put  to  death.    Martin  Luther 

200 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

had  given  himself  great  freedom  of  speech  in 
denouncing  the  oppressions  of  princes  as  well 
as  the  sins  of  priests  and  bishops,  but  he  was 
startled  when  his  doctrines  were  given  such  a 
political  and  social  application  as  led  to  a  crass 
individualism. 

He  sought  to  stem  the  rising  tide,  but  in  vain. 
Outbreaks  occurred  simultaneously  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  It  was  no  longer  a  ques- 
tion of  a  new  church,  but  of  a  new  society.  A 
manifesto  containing  the  demands  of  the  peas- 
ants was  prepared  by  the  Swiss  priest,  Schap- 
pler.    It  follows : 

1.  The  right  to  choose  their  own  pastors. 

2.  Only  pay  tithes  of  corn. 

3.  No  longer  to  be  treated  as  slaves. 

4.  Permission  to  shoot  and  fish. 

5.  The  right  to  cut  wood  in  the  forests. 

6.  Hours  of  labor  to  be  diminished. 

7.  Permission  to  all  men  to  own  land. 

8.  Taxes  not  to  exceed  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

9.  Tribute  to  princes  not  to  be  exacted  from 
widows  and  orphans. 

10.  If  these  grievances  are  not  well  founded, 
let  them  be  disproved  by  the  word  of  God. 

This  tenth  proposition  has  a  familiar  flavor, 
and  sounds  like  a  quotation  from  Martin  Luther 

201 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

himself.  Luther  and  Melanchthon  both  opposed 
the  social  demands  of  the  peasants.  Luther 
said,  "Slavery  is  as  old  as  the  world/ '  He 
called  upon  the  secular  princes,  whether  Eoman 
or  Protestant,  to  crush  out  the  insurrection.  It 
was  done  with  a  mighty  hand  and  an  out- 
stretched arm,  and  one  hundred  thousand  peas- 
ants perished  by  the  sword. 

The  demands  of  the  peasants  seem  simple 
enough  from  the  point  of  view  of  modern  con- 
ditions. We  cannot  understand  what  the 
trouble  was  all  about,  because  these  reforms  and 
many  more  have  become  commonplaces  of  mod- 
ern life. 

Here  was  the  first  great  failure  of  Martin 
Luther.  He  rather  than  Muenzer  should  have 
been  the  leader  of  the  people.  He  should  have 
sought  to  relieve  oppressive  social  conditions 
by  practical  measures,  and  so  should  have  con- 
trolled them.  But  he  was  still  a  peasant,  and 
the  peasant  bowed  down  before  the  prince.  He 
was  dethroned  as  the  popular  idol.  Perhaps  it 
was  largely  because  of  the  uns tilled  tumult 
within  his  own  soul. 

His  answer  to  the  Peasants'  War  was  his 
sudden  marriage  with  the  ex-nun,  Katherine,  in 
the  year  1825.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
an  effort  to  moderate  the  freedom  which  he  had 

202 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

preached  in  the  beginning.  He  wrote  to  the 
King  of  Denmark  in  behalf  of  an  endowed 
State  Chnrch.  He  demanded  of  Zwingli  that  he 
should  accept  his  doctrine  of  consubstantiation, 
and  failing  here  he  joined  in  the  persecution  of 
the  followers  of  Zwingli  and  permitted  them  to 
be  driven  out  of  Germany. 

The  fundamental  distrust  of  his  own  doc- 
trines is  indicated  in  his  declaration  of  the  in- 
capacity of  the  peasant.  Also  he  taught  the 
need  of  unification  in  religious  teaching  and  the 
necessity  of  civil  control.  To  Metsch  he  writes : 
"In  order  to  avoid  trouble,  we  should  not,  if 
possible,  suffer  contrary  teachings  in  the  same 
state.  Even  unbelievers  should  be  forced  to 
obey  the  ten  commandments,  attend  church  and 
outwardly  conform.,, 

In  place  of  the  creeds  of  the  Eoman  Church 
there  came  the  Augsburg  confession  prepared 
by  Melanchthon,  approved  by  Luther,  and  ac- 
cepted by  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  in  1530.  The 
world  can  never  be  moved  too  far  and  too  fast, 
neither  can  the  greatest  of  men  be  scrutinized 
too  closely.  The  twentieth  century  standards 
must  not  be  used  in  measuring  this  marvelous 
man.  The  Lutheran  church,  with  all  the  noble 
work  it  has  accomplished,  does  not  represent 
the  task  of  Martin  Luther.    Its  careful  devices 

203 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

for  restoring  the  disturbed  social  order  and  for 
substituting  the  social  for  the  individual  judg- 
ment in  religion  were  not  fundamental  to  him. 
In  spite  of  all  limitations  and  mistakes  his 
was  the  great  democratic  voice  of  his  time. 
Though  his  later  life  was  not  equal  to  the  prom- 
ise of  his  earlier  career,  he  was  still  the  su- 
preme prophet  of  the  new  dispensation.  Once 
again  had  rung  in  the  ears  of  men  the  victorious 
battle  cry,  "Ye  are  kings  and  priests  unto 
God. ' '  The  voice  was  never  to  die  away.  Nay, 
it  was  more  than  a  voice,  it  was  a  new  dispen- 
sation of  life  poured  into  the  souls  of  men.  The 
separation  of  the  church  into  Protestant  and 
Catholic  was  incidental,  perhaps  even  calam- 
itous. In  time  some  remedy  may  be  discovered 
and  the  unity  of  the  church  will  be  restored. 
But  the  essence  of  the  whole  thing  is  to  be 
found  elsewhere.  Social  forms,  whether  politi- 
cal or  ecclesiastical,  will  at  length  find  adjust- 
ment. The  final  value  is  a  free  man  in  a  free 
society.  Toward  this  resultant,  up  to  his  time, 
no  greater  contribution  was  made  by  any  man 
than  was  made  by  Martin  Luther.  He  was  not 
a  conventional  saint,  and  he  was  far  from  con- 
sistent. There  was  much  to  be  desired  in  the 
immediate  results  which  followed  his  revolt,  but 
all  in  all  he  was  one  of  the  most  useful  leaders 

204 


LUTHER   AND    LIBERTY 

in  the  great  upward  struggle  toward  human 
freedom. 

No  estimate  of  the  Reformation  would  be 
complete  that  did  not  include  an  account  of  its 
influence  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
That  institution  was  depleted  of  its  strength 
and  suffered  under  the  shock  of  mighty  blows 
from  eager  antagonists ;  its  life-blood  was  gush- 
ing forth  from  open  wounds  and  the  entire  or- 
ganism seemed  about  to  perish  from  the  earth. 
The  Roman  church  reeled  under  the  blows,  but 
eager  hands  stanched  the  wounds ;  she  steadied 
herself  and  stood  upright  in  the  world. 

The  Counter-reformation  was  almost  as  im- 
portant as  was  the  new  development  of  re- 
ligious life.  Out  of  Spain  came  Loyola,  more 
a  soldier  after  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
church  than  he  was  in  the  service  of  his  coun- 
try, called  to  his  side  heroic  spirits  who  were 
willing  to  suffer  all  kinds  of  privations  and  go 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  in  defence  of  the  old 
faith. 

The  great  leaders  within  the. church  began  to 
realize  the  seriousness  of  the  crisis  that  was  be- 
fore them,  and  in  various  countries  movements 
were  soon  under  way  to  reform  the  manners 
and  the  morals  of  clergy  and  people,  to  make 
more  precise  and  definite  the  doctrines  of  the 

205 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

church,  and  to  defend  them  with  skillful  dialec- 
tic weapons.  The  work  culminated  at  the 
Council  of  Trent,  which  issued  decrees  in  con- 
demnation of  the  doctrines  of  the  reformers  and 
followed  that  work  by  the  publication  of  the 
Tridentine  profession  of  faith.  Since  those 
days,  wherever  Protestant  churches  have  been 
strong,  as  in  Germany,  England  and  the  United 
States,  the  Koman  Catholic  church  has  been  an 
eager  competitor  in  all  good  works ;  and  though 
Italy,  Spain  and  Austria  have  largely  furnished 
the  rulers,  to  the  Protestant  countries  must  be 
given  credit  for  the  greatest  names  and  the 
most  shining  virtues  within  the  Eoman  Church. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SOCIAL  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

We  have  seen  that  reformations  were  inevi- 
table; that  they  were  the  result  of  vast  social 
forces  as  well  as  the  parents  of  the  future.  In 
a  profound  sense  the  movements  led  by  the  dif- 
ferent teachers  were  not  so  much  a  spirit  of  re- 
volt as  the  expression  of  new  life,  and  each  of 
them  was  part  of  one  process,  however  dif- 
ferent the  type  of  the  reformations  and  how- 
ever various  the  apparent  results. 

ULRICH  ZWINGLI 

Zwingli  was  born  in  Switzerland,  1484,  and 
was  a  son  of  the  common  people,  though  his 
parents  were  not  poor.  He  studied  in  Basle  and 
Berne  as  well  as  in  the  University  of  Vienna. 
At  thirty-four  years  of  age  he  became  the  i  *  Peo- 
ple's  Priest' '  at  the  great  Minster  of  Zurich.  It 
is  significant  that  at  the  very  outset  he  stipu- 
lated that  he  should  have  liberty  to  preach  the 

207 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

truth  as  he  understood  it.  He  was  hemmed  in 
by  the  smallness  of  his  nation  and  the  limita- 
tions of  his  canton.  At  the  same  time  there 
were  certain  advantages  growing  out  of  the 
Swiss  spirit  and  its  stout  resistance  to  oppres- 
sion in  many  forms. 

Zwingli  was  influenced  by  the  Humanists.  He 
had  studied  Greek,  and  was  the  friend  of  Eras- 
mus. A  people's  priest,  he  preached  sermons 
for  the  people  based  upon  the  New  Testament 
in  the  spirit  of  the  new  learning,  relying  upon 
his  own  interpretations  rather  than  upon  the 
commentaries  of  the  fathers.  He  also  came  to 
the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith,  brt  he 
never  admitted  that  he  had  learned  this  from 
Germany,  always  claiming  that  he  was  no  dis- 
ciple, but  rather  the  predecessor,  of  Martin 
Luther. 

A  Franciscan  monk  had  been  commissioned 
to  sell  indulgences  in  Switzerland  just  as  Tetzel 
had  been  in  Germany,  but  Bernard  Samson  had 
no  recognition  from  the  local  bishops  and  as- 
sumed authority  over  the  secular  clergy.  Be- 
fore the  sacred  peddler  had  reached  Zurich, 
Zwingli,  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Cathedral 
Church,  had  aroused  the  people  and  the  city  of- 
ficials so  successfully  that  the  senate  of  the  city 
denied  him  admission  within  its  walls.    Accord- 

208 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

ingly  at  the  gates  he  was  met  by  a  deputation 
and  ordered  to  depart  from  the  Canton 

In  1522  Zwingli  began  his  open  career  as  an 
active  reformer.  He  published  pamphlets  at- 
tacking especially  three  doctrines :  that  of  fast- 
ing, of  prayers  to  the  saints,  and  of  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy.  At  this  time  he  resigned  his 
commission  as  preacher  received  from  the 
bishop,  and  accepted  one  from  the  Council  of 
Zurich.  The  next  year,  in  the  presence  of  the 
clergy,  representatives  of  the  bishop  and  the 
civic  authorities,  he  discussed  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  reform.  He  attacked  the  images  in  the 
churches,  the  Roman  doctrine  of  the  mass,  and 
the  form  of  baptism.  He  won  an  instant  and 
complete  victory.  The  celebration  of  the  mass 
was  prohibited  in  all  the  churches.  Oral  con- 
fession was  abolished,  pictures  were  removed 
from  before  the  altars,  and  the  religious  houses 
were  abolished.  The  convents  became  schools, 
hospitals,  or  almshouses.  During  the  excite- 
ment of  the  new  movement  the  people  thronged 
in  multitudes  to  the  churches.  After  the  new 
doctrines  were  established  the  people  were  con- 
tent without  frequent  attendance.  There  were 
three  churches  in  the  city,  and  the  council  is- 
sued an  ordinance  directing  them  to  hold  re- 
ligious services  at  the  same  hour  on  Sunday, 
15  209 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

and  added,  "The  mandate  for  church-going 
put  out  last  year  (1530)  has  been  badly  ob- 
served. ■ p 

By  1529  a  Protestant  league  had  been  estab- 
lished between  six  of  the  cantons  in  Switzer- 
land. The  forest  cantons,  however,  remained 
faithful  to  Rome.  The  Protestant  League,  fear- 
ing that  ultimately  the  reformation  would 
be  overcome,  determined  to  conquer  the  forest 
cantons.  The  canton  of  Berne  was  willing  to 
stop  needed  supplies,  but  did  not  wish  to  fight 
the  foresters  across  the  border.  Out  of  the 
tumult  of  conflict  came  the  first  Peace  of  Kap- 
pel,  based  upon  the  agreement,  ' '  No  man  ought 
to  be  forced  in  matters  of  faith.  Protestant  and 
all  Catholic  congregations  are  to  remain  as 
now,  unless  a  majority  wish  to  change."  In 
this  treaty  the  Catholic  cantons  agreed  to  re- 
tire from  their  alliance  with  Ferdinand  of  Hun- 
gary. This  Peace  could  not  last,  and  a  battle 
occurred  at  Kappel,  in  which  Zwingli  was  the 
real  leader,  and,  though  acting  as  chaplain,  he 
yet  carried  the  banner.  Struck  to  the  ground^ 
his  identity  was  discovered.  He  was  then  slain 
and  his  body  burned.  The  monument  which 
marks  the  place  of  his  death  bears  the  inscrip- 
tion: "  'They  may  kill  the  body,  but  not  the 
soul.'    So  spoke,  on  this  spot,  Ulrich  Zwingli, 

210 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

who,  for  truth  and  the  freedom  of  the  Christian 
church,  died  a  hero 's  death. ' ' 

These  reformers  doubtless  knew  what  bond- 
age was,  but  they  had  not  yet  learned  the  lesson 
of  the  freedom  of  the  faith.  Anabaptists  were 
found  in  Zurich  as  well  as  in  Germany  who  de- 
clared that  there  was  no  scriptural  warrant  for 
the  baptism  of  infants.  The  order  was  given 
that  Anabaptists  should  be  drowned  and  it  is 
said  that  there  were  at  least  three  martyrs  of 
these  people,  who,  whatever  their  excesses  or 
mistakes,  were  the  great  pioneers  in  teaching 
the  doctrine  of  a  free  church  in  a  free  state. 

The  quarrel  with  Luther  over  the  sacrament 
had  much  to  do  with  the  campaign  against  the 
Catholics.  Driven  out  of  Germany,  Zwingli  felt 
the  necessity  of  consolidating  the  Swiss  in  order 
to  withstand  future  attacks.  These  reformers 
were  often  as  bitter  against  each  other  as  they 
were  against  Rome.  Luther  wrote,  "  Zwingli 
has  sent  me  his  foolish  book  and  a  letter  writ- 
ten in  his  own  hand,  worthy  of  his  haughty 
spirit,  so  gentle  was  he,  raging,  foaming  and 
threatening,  that  he  seems  to  me  incurable  and 
condemned  by  manifest  truth. ' '  1 

Zwingli  was  a  political  reformer  as  well  as  a 

^'The  Life  and  Letters  of  Martin  Luther,' '  Preserved 
Smith. 

211 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

preacher.  He  wished  to  keep  Switzerland  free 
from  outside  alliances  for  the  sake  of  her  more 
democratic  institutions.  He  frequently  opposed 
the  hiring  of  Swiss  troops  to  fight  in  foreign 
wars,  and  when  the  peasants  arose,  in  1525,  he 
took  the  side  of  the  country  districts  against 
his  own  city,  lightened  some  of  their  burdens 
and  secured  the  abolition  of  serfdom.  For 
Zwingli  the  state,  of  course,  was  essentially  the 
city,  and  it  was  with  the  aid  of  the  council  of 
the  city  that  he  organized  his  type  of  church 
which  was  partly  controlled  by  the  city  authori- 
ties and  partly  by  a  clerical  synod.  Most  stu- 
dents feel  that,  whether  Luther  lived  too  long 
or  not,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  Zwingli  died 
too  soon.  In  the  type  of  his  thought  he  was 
more  modern  than  any  other  of  the  reformers, 
and  he  was  the  one  man  who  might  have  pre- 
vented the  malign  shadow  of  Genevan  theology 
from  obscuring  the  dial  of  the  world. 

JOHN  CALVIN 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  his  teaching,  no 
man  can  deny  that  John  Calvin  was  the  su- 
preme theologian  of  the  reformation.  The  tes- 
timony to  his  great  genius  is  found  in  his  "In- 
stitutes of  the  Christian  Eeligion,,,  a  book  writ- 

212 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

ten  when  its  author  was  only  twenty-six  years 
of  age  and  which  had  more  influence  upon  the 
Christian  world  for  at  least  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  than  any  work  penned  by  any  man 
since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  It  is  easy  in 
our  time  to  sneer  at  the  doctrines  of  Calvinism. 
It  is  impossible  for  any  impartial  .historian  to 
deny  their  enormous  influence  in  the  history  of 
Christian  thought,  or  to  withhold  from  the 
young  author  a  place  among  the  world's 
immortals.  His  stern  and  unpromising 
views  do  not  appeal  to  the  modern  mind, 
and  his  austere  personality  is  as  repellent 
as  it  is  compelling.  He  was  feared  more  than 
he  was  hated,  and  he  was  obeyed  rather  than 
loved. 

John  Calvin  (1509-1564)  was  born  in  France, 
and  his  parents  were  people  of  some  property 
and  of  local  importance.  He  was  destined  for 
the  church,  studied  in  various  French  Universi- 
ties, having  abandoned  the  promised  place  in 
the  church  for  hope  of  distinction  in  the  profes- 
sion of  law.  After  having  been  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  reformed  opinions  for  some  time,  he 
passed  through  a  profound  psychological  expe- 
rience full  of  mental  agony  and  searching  of 
heart,  out  of  which  he  emerged  with  the  con- 
viction that  God  had  worked  a  miracle  upon  his 

213 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

soul  and  that  he  was  a  chosen  vessel  for  the  sal- 
vation of  men. 

Meantime  William  Farrel,  another  French- 
man, had  carried  the  reformation  into  Switzer- 
land and  had  settled  in  Geneva  in  1532.  The 
reformation  in  Geneva  was  quite  as  much  po- 
litical as  it  was  religious.  What  the  people  of 
the  town  wanted  was  to  be  free  from  the  rule 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  incidentally  they  got 
release  from  Eome.  After  Farrel  had  been  in 
Geneva  four  years,  John  Calvin,  on  a  casual 
journey  through  the  town,  came  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  older  man,  who  desired  him  for 
an  assistant  in  his  work.  Of  course,  Calvin 
could  never  long  be  an  assistant  to  anybody. 
Just  as  on  the  first  journey  in  the  stories  told 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  "Barnabas  and 
Paul"  were  ordained  to  the  work,  but  by  the 
time  they  loosed  from  Paphos,  Barnabas  was 
lost  sight  of  and  the  deputation  was  now  called 
"Paul  and  his  company,' '  so  John  Calvin  him- 
self became  at  once  the  dominant  spirit  of  the 
new  movement.  First  of  all  the  place  must 
become  orthodox  and  the  itinerant  preachers, 
Anabaptists,  and  the  rest,  must  be  suppressed. 
There  seems  no  difference  between  the  affair 
upon  this  small  theater  of  Geneva  and  what 
happened   at    the    Council    of.  Nicaea.     Calvin 

214 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

drew  up  a  statement  of  Christian  doctrine,  the 
citizens  were  brought  before  the  leaders  of  the 
church  in  groups  of  ten  and  were  not  only  asked 
whether  they  agreed  to  the  new  creed,  but  were 
bidden  to  profess  and  swear  to  the  new  confes- 
sion of  faith.  The  Anabaptists  and  other  here- 
tics were  soon  after  banished  from  the  city. 

Calvin  had  also  the  spirit  of  Hildebrand  and 
determined  that  in  religious  matters  the  new 
church  should  not  submit  in  any  degree  to  the 
civil  power.  This  perhaps  would  not  have  been 
so  difficult  to  secure  had  not  Calvin  also  sought 
to  enforce  upon  the  citizens  through  the  govern- 
ment of  the  city  regulations  with  respect  to  all 
the  details  of  minor  morals  so  characteristic  of 
puritanism  in  all  its  forms.  He  failed  to  recog- 
nize the  possible  tyranny  of  the  majority.  An- 
other Frenchman,  De  Tocqueville,  more  world- 
ly-wise, at  a  later  time,  declared  "The  power  to 
do  everything  which  I  should  refuse  to  one  of 
my  equals,  I  will  never  grant  to  any  number  of 
them."  The  result  of  the  quarrel  was  that 
Calvin  and  his  colleagues  were  banished  from 
the  city  after  only  two  years  of  leadership. 

The  absence  of  his  strong  hand  was  soon  felt 
in  social  disorder  and  religious  chaos,  and  after 
three  years  he  returned  to  rule  in  Geneva  for 
the  rest  of  his  life.    It  is  quite  interesting  in 

215 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

this  connection  to  see  how  clear-sighted  John 
Calvin  was  with  respect  to  other  people.  In  a 
letter  to  Melanchthon  on  the  ' '  overbearing  tyr- 
anny of  Martin  Luther' '  he  says,  "It  is  all 
over  with  the  church  when  a  single  individual 
has  more  authority  than  all  the  rest. ' ' l 

Calvin,  like  the  God  he  believed  in,  was  a 
"Man  of  War"  and  engaged  in  many  contro- 
versies. The  most  notable  of  them  was  with 
Michael  Servetus,  an  escaped  heretic.  He  tried 
the  hospitality  of  Geneva,  where  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Calvin  he  was  arrested,  found  guilty  of 
heresy  against  the  foundations  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and,  by  the  authority  of  the  Civil  Coun- 
cil of  Geneva,  was  put  to  death.  Servetus  was 
in  a  bad  state  because  he  was  a  heretic  both 
from  the  Catholic  and  the  Protestant  point  of 
view,  and  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  thought 
that  heresy  ought  to  be  identified  with  crime 
and  punished  accordingly.  If  the  knowledge  of 
theological  truth,  accurate  and  adequate,  be  es- 
sential to  salvation,  they  were  undoubtedly  cor- 
rect, and  unless  we  are  shocked  by  the  doctrine 
we  ought  not  to  recoil  too  much  at  its  results. 
It  is  said  in  vindication  of  Calvin  that  he  of- 
fered the  heretic  his  life,  if  he  would  recant, 
and  that  in  any  event  he  would  have  preferred 

^'Letters  of  John  Calvin/ »  p.  443. 

216 


INFLUENCE    OF   THE    REFORMATION 

his  death  by  the  sword  rather  than  by  fire.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  pursue  this  melancholy  cir- 
cumstance further.  It  was  a  dark  incident  that 
the  modern  world  can  scarcely  understand. 

Geneva  was  a  little  Eepublic  of  about  thirteen 
thousand  of  whom  less  than  one-tenth  were 
voters.  Both  church  and  state  were  essentially 
aristocratic  in  form  and  were  practically  united 
in  organization  and  action.  The  early  reform- 
ers believed  in  a  state  church  in  the  interest 
of  freedom  from  Rome,  and  a  successful  revolt. 
The  church  of  Geneva  was  like  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue and  the  state  of  Geneva  was  like  a  He- 
brew Theocracy.  These  people  had  taken  the 
bible  for  their  teacher,  but  it  was  the  Old  Testa- 
ment rather  than  the  New,  and  Moses  was  their 
prophet. 

On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  recognized  that 
the  ends  sought  by  the  teaching  of  the  church, 
as  well  as  by  the  action  of  the  little  state,  were 
justice  and  righteousness.  They  were  seeking, 
as  they  understood  it,  to  make  a  better  world. 

JOHN    KNOX 

John  Calvin  was  the  most  fortunate  of  all  the 
reformers  because  he  had  John  Knox  for  a 
disciple,  and  his  theology  was  transplanted  to 

217 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Scotland.  So  he  conquered  the  Anglo-Saxon 
world  and  under  happier  auspices  became  one 
of  the  chief  foundations  in  the  life  of  the  New 
World  and  upon  its  strong  roots  was  grafted 
the  growth  of  a  religious  freedom,  blooming 
first  in  America,  but  whose  fragrance  was  to  fill 
the  world. 

A  rough  country  was  Scotland  and  inhabited 
by  a  rough  and  uncultured  people.  England 
had  put  herself  in  harmony  with  the  new  world 
movement,  while  whatever  religion  there  was 
in  Scotland  was  still  under  the  direction  of  the 
Church  of  Eome.  Small  as  the  country  was, 
north  and  south  were  often  divided  against 
each  other  and  the  hardy  independence  of  the 
Highland  chiefs  recked  little  of  the  throne. 
Turbulent  nobles  quarreled  with  each  other 
even  to  blood.  It  was  a  fierce  people,  com- 
pounded of  Gael,  Saxon  and  Scandinavian,  and 
revolt  ran  riot  in  their  veins. 

More  than  any  other  man  John  Knox  was  the 
creator  of  modern  Scotland.  Geneva  has  lost 
its  place  and  but  for  his  disciple  Calvin  would 
have  little  fame.  Scotland  has  probably  influ- 
enced the  life  of  the  modern  world  more  than 
any  similar  social  group  since  the  days  of 
Athens. 

But  who  is  John  Knox?  Meager  and  shad- 
218 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

owy  are  the  details  of  his  early  life,  but  clear 
and  vivid  is  his  place  in  certain  historic  trans- 
actions, and  in  both  his  faults  and  his  virtues 
he  is  the  authentic  Scotchman.  His  parents 
were  peasants.  Their  names  we  know,  but  not 
the  date  of  the  birth  of  their  son.  He  seems  to 
have  studied  and  perhaps  also  taught  at  Glas- 
gow, and  afterward  we  find  him  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  St.  Andrews.  He  seems  to  have  become 
a  priest  of  the  church,  but  almost  immediately 
he  was  found  among  the  reformers  who  in  little 
companies  appeared  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  particularly  when  led  by  the  upper 
classes.  There  is  some  account  of  preaching  at 
St.  Andrews,  and  when  the  place  was  captured 
by  the  French  fleet,  Knox  with  others  became 
a  galley  prisoner,  working  on  the  river  Loire 
for  nearly  two  years.  It  is  not  needful  to 
relate  how  he  was  released, — some  say  by  the 
request  of  Edward  VI  of  England, — how  he  be- 
came a  preacher  of  the  new  faith  in  that  coun- 
try, declined  a  bishopric,  and  left  England  when 
Queen  Mary  came  to  the  throne.  But  it  was 
after  his  sojourn  on  the  continent  and  his  re- 
turn to  Scotland  that  his  real  life  began. 

The  problem  of  civil  authority  took  a  new 
form  in  Scotland.  For  now  the  question  arose : 
what  should  a  reformer  do  when  he  was  not 

219 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

supported  by  the  state?  With  Queen  Mary  of 
Scotland  fresh  from  France  to  forbid  the 
preaching  of  new  doctrines  in  her  kingdom,  with 
the  nobles  divided,  John  Knox  became  the  real 
King  of  Scotland.  He  preached  his  famous 
sermon  at  Perth  against  idolatry  and  the  im- 
ages were  broken.  As  he  denounced  popes  and 
monks  he  aroused  the  people  everywhere  to  a 
fury  and,  after  his  sermons,  excited  mobs  at- 
tacked the  monasteries.  The  towns  soon  came 
to  his  support,  and  a  curious  truce  was  estab- 
lished in  1559,  by  which  every  man  "may  have 
freedom  to  use  his  own  conscience  for  a  period 
of  six  months." 

The  future  of  Scotland  depended  upon  out- 
side politics.  England  by  this  time  was  nomi- 
nally Protestant.  France  was  Roman  Catho- 
lic and  the  Scotch  lords  made  a  treaty  with 
England.  A  parliament  met  in  1560  at  which 
a  confession  of  faith  was  ratified  by  the  estates 
of  Scotland,  "As  wholesome  and  sound  doctrine 
grounded  upon  the  infallible  truth  of  God's 
word. ' ' 

The  first  general  assembly  of  the  church  was 
soon  called  and  assumed  the  right  to  organize 
itself  independent  of  the  state.  John  Knox 
was  the  Protestant  Hildebrand.  In  lieu  of  the 
old  church  endowments  the  new  Presbyterian 

220 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

organization  received  stipends  for  the  monas- 
teries, control  of  the  public  schools,  and  the 
administration  of  poor  relief.  When  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  returned  from  France,  in  1561, 
a  widowed  queen  and  a  devout  Catholic,  she 
found  herself  the  head  of  a  nation  really  ruled 
by  a  clerical  peasant.  Much  has  been  said  of 
the  interviews  between  Queen  Mary  and  John 
Knox.  It  is  said  that  she  wept  in  his  presence 
as  he  denounced  both  her  person  and  her  faith. 
He  was  ready  now  to  declare  that  doctrine  was 
derived  from  the  bible  and  that  the  church  has 
its  authority  from  God  alone.  He  preached  at 
St.  Giles,  and  the  English  ambassador  said  of 
him,  "the  voice  of  one  man  is  able  to  put  more 
life  in  us  than  six  hundred  trumpets. ' ' 

The  organization  he  framed  for  the  church  of 
Scotland  has  survived  until  this  present  time, 
and  has  been  translated  to  other  lands,  but  his 
services  are  much  larger  than  the  establishing 
of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  pleaded  the 
cause  of  the  poor  and  claimed  for  them  a  share 
in  the  sequestered  endowments  that  had  be- 
longed to  the  old  church  foundations.  The 
exigencies  of  his  position  compelled  him  to 
plead  for  the  freedom  of  the  church  from  the 
control  of  the  state.  In  short  what  he  proposed 
was  that  the  church  should  manage  its  own  bus- 

221 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

iness  and  the  state  should  foot  the  bills.  He 
was  compelled  also  by  his  position  to  take  the 
view  that  the  sovereign  derives  power  from  the 
people  as  over  against  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  Both  the  theology  that  he  had 
adopted  from  Calvin  and  his  own  interpreta- 
tion of  life  compelled  him  to  assert  the  dignity 
of  the  individual  man.  As  he  refused  to  be  a 
bishop  in  the  English  church,  so  he  declined  to 
personally  profit  by  his  position  in  Scotland. 
He  was  doubtless  narrow,  intense,  and  "not 
easy  to  live  with"  but  he  was  a  man  of  superb 
personality  and  his  hands  were  clean.  We  may 
think  as  we  will  of  the  validity  of  his  creed  or 
the  nature  of  his  church,  but  by  the  direct  test 
his  fame  is  secure.  What  the  Scotch  world  was 
before  the  days  of  John  Knox  and  what  it  has 
been  since ;  with  her  thrift  and  her  intelligence, 
her  crowds  of  scholars,  poets,  historians  and 
workers,  the  whole  world  knows.  Puritanism 
was  a  harsh  thing  and  not  lovely  to  look  upon 
but  under  other  skies  its  crushed  granite  was  to 
make  the  soil  in  which  should  grow  a  finer  type 
of  social  life  than  the  world  had  hitherto  be- 
held. 


222 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

THE   ANGLO-SAXONS 

We  have  seen  that  it  was  by  an  alliance  with 
England  that  the  cause  of  the  Beformation  un- 
der John  Knox  made  headway  in  Scotland. 
That  alliance  came  about  because  France  re- 
mained Catholic  and  England  had  broken  with 
Eome. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  retrace  our 
steps  to  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  to  show  how 
the  new  doctrines  were  received  among  Eng- 
lishmen. Erasmus  seems  to  have  cautiously 
endeavored  to  secure  from  the  King  of  Eng- 
land assistance  in  referring  the  disputed  theo- 
logical questions  to  a  board  of  impartial  judges. 
This  was  quite  in  harmony  with  both  the  temper 
of  Erasmus  as  a  scholar  and  his  caution  as  a 
man  of  the  world.  It  has  seemed  a  pity  that 
Erasmus  did  not  have  as  much  force  of  charac- 
ter as  he  had  scholarship  and  intellect.  The 
course  of  history  might  have  been  different  and 
better.  His  plan  came  to  nothing  because  Car- 
dinal Wolsey  influenced  Henry  to  condemn  and 
burn  Luther's  books. 

The  complicated  character  of  Henry  VIII  is 
not  easy  of  unfolding  to  the  modern  mind.  He 
was  certainly  a  great  king  and  he  believed  him- 
self also  a  great  scholar.     With  that  infinite 

223 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

deftness  that  so  often  goes  with  the  makeup 
of  the  successful  ecclesiastic,  Cardinal  Wolsey 
called  the  attention  of  his  royal  master  to  the 
"Babylonian  Captivity"  by  Luther  and  inti- 
mated that  he  might  serve  the  cause  of  religion 
by  making  a  suitable  reply.  In  1521,  therefore, 
Henry  VIII  published  his  answer  to  the  Ger- 
man reformer.  Erasmus  had  chosen  for  his 
ground  of  controversy  with  Martin  Luther  the 
question  of  the  freedom  of  the  will.  It  was 
ground  well  chosen  by  an  adroit  controversial- 
ist and  the  literary  battle  caused  Erasmus  no 
loss  of  fame.  King  Henry  chose  to  discuss 
something  much  more  vital  to  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  religion,  and  accordingly  wrote  his 
treatise,  "An  assertion  of  the  Seven  Sacra- 
ments." This  pamphlet  he  dedicated  to  Pope 
Leo  X,  who  on  account  of  it  bestowed  upon  the 
English  monarch  the  proud  title  "Defender  of 
the  Faith."  The  king  of  Protestant  England 
still  wears  this  Roman  laurel  upon  his  brow 
dearer  than  any  other,  though  he  has  also  be- 
come Emperor  of  India. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  argument  of 
the  King,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  vigor  of 
his  language.  "What  beast  so  pernicious  as 
Luther  has  ever  attacked  the  flock  of  Christ? 
What  a  work  of  Hell  is  he?    What  a  limb  of 

224 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

Satan?  How  rotten  in  his  mind?  How  exe- 
crable his  purpose  V  But  Henry  need  not 
think  that  one  Martin  Luther  ever  lacked  in 
vigorous  invective.  In  his  reply  of  the  next 
year  he  speaks  of  him  as  "That  King  of  lies, 

by  God 's  ungrace  King  of  England for 

since  with  malice  aforethought  that  damnable 
and  rotten  worm  has  lied  against  my  King  in 
Heaven,  it  is  right  for  me  to  bespatter  this 
English  monarch  with  his  own  filth,  and  tram- 
ple his  blasphemous  crown  under  foot."  It 
was  a  sorry  quarrel  of  no  consequence  to  us 
now,  but  showing  well  enough  the  spirit  of  the 
time  and  the  improvement  in  manners  since 
that  day. 

It  is  difficult  even  at  this  late  date  to  properly 
estimate  such  a  man  as  Henry  VIII.  His  per- 
son has  been  the  center  of  controversy  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants  and  also  between  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  Nonconformists. 
He  bitterly  opposed  Martin  Luther  as  we  have 
seen.  Thirteen  years  after  his  attack  upon  the 
Eeformer,  the  English  parliament  passed  the 
Act  of  Supremacy  by  which  the  English  Church 
separated  from  Rome  and  became  national  in 
character.  It  is  not  needful  to  discuss  the  con- 
troversy about  his  divorce  from  Catherine  of 
Aragon.  Did  the  English  King  have  a  con- 
16  225 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

science  upon  the  question  because  she  was  the 
wife  of  his  deceased  brother,  or  was  it  that  he 
wished  to  marry  Anne  Boleyn !  Was  the  Pope 
afraid  of  offending  the  Emperor  Charles  V, 
who  was  a  nephew  of  Catherine's,  or  did  he 
wish  to  uphold  the  validity  of  that  sacrament  of 
marriage  which  Henry  himself  had  defended 
against  Luther?  These  are  problems  that  need 
not  be  discussed.  It  is  certain  that  no  other 
man  who  desired  to  be  rated  in  history  as  a 
good  husband  and  father  ever  had  so  many 
matrimonial  infelicities  as  this  stalwart  mon- 
arch. But  they  err  through  lack  of  knowledge 
who  suppose  that  a  church  is  reformed  and  a 
nation  changes  its  religion  simply  because  a 
king  wishes  a  new  wife.  The  causes  are  vastly 
deeper  and  more  permanent.  In  this  case  they 
were  largely  political  and  economic;  political 
because  of  the  new  self-consciousness  of  the 
English  nation ;  economic  because  of  the  wealth 
of  the  Eoman  Catholic  institutions.  In  the 
beginning  there  was  no  reform  as  we  now  un- 
derstand the  term.  In  England  the  church  had 
become  national  and  it  changed  popes,  making 
its  king  the  ecclesiastical  as  he  was  already  the 
chief  civil  authority. 

How   much    of    the    old    faith   the    English 
Church  still  maintained  can  be   read   in  the 

226 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

"Act  of  the  Six  Articles' '  passed  in  1539? 
They  are  these:  1. — Transubstantiation.  2. — 
The  sufficiency  of  communion  in  one  kind.  3. — 
The  celibacy  of  the  clergy.  4. — The  maintenance 
of  vows  of  chastity.  5. — The  continuance  of 
private  masses.  6. — Auricular  confession.  The 
penalty  behind  the  first  doctrine  was  death.  A 
man  might  deny  the  others  once  if  willing  to 
lose  his  property,  but  the  death  penalty  followed 
the  second  offence.  The  movement  of  Henry 
VIII  was  a  revolt  and  not  a  reformation. 

The  real  interests  of  Henry  were  personal 
and  political  rather  than  religious.  He  used, 
however,  the  change  in  faith  and  the  change  in 
time  as  a  weapon  for  his  purpose.  As  years 
went  on  he  became  more  and  more  Protestant. 
He  negotiated  with  the  Lutheran  princes  of 
Germany,  though  there  were  no  resultant  al- 
liances. Whatever  may  be  thought  of  him  as 
a  man,  it  has  become  clear  to  recent  students 
that  he  was  a  great  ruler.  He  was  in  many 
respects  the  founder  of  the  English  nation.  Be- 
cause his  plans  required  a  new  organ  of  author- 
ity upon  the  part  of  the  nation,  he  developed  a 
parliament  and  expanded  its  authority  to  stand 
over  against  the  nobles  and  the  church.  The 
parliament  was  never  really  lost  after  his  time, 
though  it  passed  through  varying  fortunes,  un- 

227 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

til  at  last  in  our  own  day  the  House  of  Com- 
mons has  become  the  instrument  of  the  will  of 
the  nation.  So  far  as  the  Keformation  was 
concerned,  it  was  probably  checked  rather  than 
advanced  by  the  career  of  this  greatest  of  the 
Tudors. 

How  much  more  England  was  Protestant 
than  her  King  is  revealed  in  the  Articles 
of  Religion  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
adopted  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
Whether  the  Articles  were  true  or  not,  they 
were  certainly  Protestant.  Meantime  in  Scot- 
land there  was  developing  an  intense  Puri- 
tanism and,  overflowing  into  England,  it  was 
there  to  meet  and  conquer  the  Lutheran  theol- 
ogy and  later  to  carry  on  the  battle  of  humanity, 
though  in  a  strange  disguise. 

As  Scotland  had  furnished  a  Protestant  theol- 
ogy for  England  through  the  successes  of  John 
Knox,  so  in  the  person  of  James  I  a  king  was 
given  to  reign  over  united  Britain  who  did 
more  by  his  faults  and  weakness  for  the  cause 
of  liberty  than  many  another  man  has  done  by 
his  strength  and  virtue.  On  the  one  hand  he 
declined  to  come  to  terms  with  the  Puritan  theo- 
logians, and  on  the  other  hand  he  secured  laws 
of  even  greater  severity  against  the  Roman 
Catholics.     But  the   outstanding  fact   of  his 

228 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

reign  was  not  in  the  affairs  of  the  church,  but 
it  was  that  great  declaration  of  parliament  in 
1621  which  asserted  that  neither  the  affairs  of 
the  realm  nor  even  those  of  the  king  could 
escape  public  scrutiny  and  debate  on  the  part 
of  the  representatives  of  the  people. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  reign  of  Charles  I 
to  bring  to  culmination  in  Great  Britain  the  in- 
tellectual and  religious  forces  which  had  long 
been  working  in  both  Scotland  and  England. 
Charles  proposed  first  of  all  to  enforce  upon 
Scotland  the  liturgy  and  the  government  of  the 
Church  of  England.  He  harried  the  Noncon- 
formists, insisted  upon  uniformity  of  worship 
and  made  the  names  of  Laud  and  Strafford,  his 
servants  in  putting  down  dissenters,  even  more 
hated  than  his  own.  The  hour  had  struck  for 
another  great  stride  forward  in  the  evolution 
of  liberty.  The  parliament  of  1640  took  up  its 
struggle  with  the  throne  in  the  interest  of  a 
Puritan  church  and  a  Calvinist  theology.  It 
was  a  struggle  that  was  to  last  for  seven  years 
and  to  end  with  the  execution  of  the  English 
king.  This  parliament  wished  not  to  make 
religion  free  but  to  make  what  they  thought 
was  religious  truth  dominant  by  force.  It  was 
the  old  story ;  let  him  rule  who  can.  The  West- 
minster Assembly  was  called  together  for  the 

229 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

"settling  of  the  liturgy  and  the  government  of 
the  Church  of  England.' '  The  outcome  of 
years  of  deliberation  by  these  divines  was  a 
Calvinistic  confession  of  faith  and  appropriate 
catechisms.  They  were  quite  enough  for  Scot- 
land, but  they  would  not  do  for  England. 

One  of  the  strongest  and  most  notable  men 
in  history  comes  upon  the  world's  stage  in  the 
person  of  Oliver  Cromwell  (1599-1658).  This 
country  farmer  with  his  strange  alternations  of 
melancholies  and  enthusiasms,  based  doubtless 
partly  upon  physical  and  partly  upon  spiritual 
conditions,  represented,  as  Carlyle  has  perhaps 
taught  us  too  vehemently,  all  that  was  greatest 
in  the  revolt  against  tyranny  both  in  church 
and  state.  He  knew  the  power  of  passion,  and 
his  mighty  prayer  meeting  before  starting  out 
to  battle  was  as  psychological  as  it  was  re- 
ligious. Beared  in  the  Puritan  spirit  he  was  as 
much  opposed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  as  he  was  to  the  maintenance 
by  the  state  of  any  other  form  of  church  order. 
He  was  the  greatest  apostle  of  religious  liberty 
since  the  days  of  that  other  apostle  who  wrote 
the  epistle  to  the  Galatians.  Thus  he  says: 
1 '  The  state,  in  choosing  men  to  serve  it,  takes  no 
notice  of  their  opinions.' '  Gaining  possession 
of  the  army,  he  reduced  the  Presbyterian  gen- 

230 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

erals  from  authority  and  once  again  declares: 
"He  that  risks  his  life  for  the  liberty  of  his 
country,  I  hope  may  trust  God  for  the  liberty  of 
his  conscience. ' '  Meantime  the  parliament  re- 
mained in  session,  still  anxious  to  control  both 
church  and  state.  At  length  a  scene  unexam- 
pled in  history  occurred,  when  he  goes  to  the 
House  of  Parliament  and,  striding  up  and  down 
in  front  of  the  benches  like  an  incarnate  fury, 
abuses  first  one  and  then  another  of  the  peers 
and  then  cries  out,  ' '  You  are  not  parliament :  I 
say  you  are  not  parliament,  I  will  put  an  end  to 
your  sitting/ '  His  soldiers  march  in.  Parlia- 
ment is  dissolved  and  Cromwell  is  the  state. 
He  was  named  Protector.  A  new  parliament 
was  called  and  civil  authority  once  more  estab- 
lished. The  new  state  confiscated  some  of  the 
church  lands  which  had  been  left  by  Henry 
VIII,  but  at  least  a  part  of  the  revenue  was 
applied  to  the  cause  of  education.  Cromwell 
himself  was  fundamentally  in  favor  of  religious 
toleration.  He  says:  "I  had  rather  that  Mo- 
hammedanism were  permitted  among  us  than 
that  one  of  God's  children  should  be  perse- 
cuted. "  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  religious  toler- 
ation allowed  by  the  state  was  for  all  kinds 
of  Christians  except  Anglicans  and  Roman 
Catholics.     It  was  Cromwell  who  first  extended 

231 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

toleration  to  the  Jews  and  gave  them  their  foot- 
hold in  England. 

Oliver  Cromwell  had  for  his  secretary  one, 
John  Milton,  whose  fame  as  a  poet  has  almost 
made  the  world  forget  his  value  in  the  cause 
of  liberty.  His  great  work  "  Areopagitica ' '  in 
favor  of  the  liberty  of  printing  is  the  great  de- 
fence of  the  right  of  free  speech  and  the  free 
press.  He  knows  that  without  a  free  mind 
for  the  individual  there  can  develop  no  real 
social  mind,  and  so  he  says:  "Give  me  the  lib- 
erty to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely  ac- 
cording to  conscience  above  all  liberties.' '  In- 
deed for  him  it  is  worse  to  destroy  a  book  than 
to  kill  a  man.  The  book  represents  the  "sea- 
soned life"  of  man.  To  destroy  books  is  "a 
kind  of  massacre  whereof  the  execution  ends 
not  in  the  slaying  of  an  elemental  life,  but 
strikes  at  the  ethereal  essence,  the  breath  of 
reason  itself — slays  an  immortality  rather  than 
a  life.^ 

Cromwell  and  his  protectorate  passed  away. 
The  restoration  came,  bringing  back  the  Stuarts 
and  the  English  church. 

The  next  important  period  is  the  attempt  of 
James  II,  himself  become  a  Eoman  Catholic, 
to  reign  over  Protestant  England,  with  the 
promise  of  freedom  of  conscience  and  liberty  of 

232 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

worship  for  all  men.  This  meant  the  coming 
from  Holland  of  William,  Prince  of  Orange, 
who  had  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Charles 
I,  on  the  invitation  of  Englishmen  to  lay  claim 
to  their  throne  and  to  restore  their  liberties. 

The  thing  that  interests  our  study  is  the  Dec- 
laration of  Rights,  drawn  up  and  adopted  by 
parliament  and  accepted  by  William  and  Mary 
as  the  new  King  and  Queen  of  England.  It 
denied  the  right  of  any  king  to  suspend  or  dis- 
pense with  laws,  or  to  exact  money  save  by 
consent  of  parliament.  It  asserted  for  the  sub- 
ject the  right  to  petition,  to  a  free  choice  of 
representatives  in  parliament  and  for  both 
houses  of  parliament  liberty  of  debate.  The 
free  exercise  of  religion  was  demanded  for  all 
Protestants. 

This  Declaration  was  the  new  evidence  of 
that  continuous  movement  since  the  days  of 
Wykliffe,  going  on  toward  the  enthronement 
of  the  rights  of  men.  The  main  interest  con- 
tinued to  be  religious,  but  the  progress  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  went  hand  in  hand.  It 
took  generations  of  debate  to  remove  all  relig- 
ious tests  from  Roman  Catholic  and  Jews.  It 
took  a  long  series  of  battles  to  reform  repre- 
sentative government  and  to  extend,  establish 
and  safeguard  popular  suffrage.     The   battle 

233 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

for  political  democracy  in  England  has  been 
substantially  won.  Ancient  privileges  still  re- 
main. The  state  church  still  stamps  upon  the 
Nonconformist  social  and  ecclesiastical  in- 
feriority notwithstanding  his  liberty  of  wor- 
ship. The  outcome  of  the  battle  of  the  reform- 
ers, often  blind  with  mixed  motives,  and  dark- 
ened councils,  has  come  to  a  fuller  and  a  freer 
issue  of  peace  in  England  than  anywhere  upon 
the  continent  of  Europe.  What  remains  to  be 
done  so  far  as  institutions  are  concerned  is  a 
matter  of  detail.  But  he  has  read  history  care- 
lessly who  thinks  that  either  England  or  any 
other  country  has  yet  reached  the  final  goal  of 
the  race. 

A  Frenchman  has  said  that  the  United  States 
is  more  Anglo-Saxon  than  England,  and  this  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  by  far  the  large  majority 
of  Americans  have  no  Anglo-Saxon  blood  in 
their  veins.  It  is  not  physical  descent,  how- 
ever, but  the  compacting  of  a  people  into  a  defi- 
nite social  group,  united  by  common  ideas, 
faiths  and  institutions,  which  really  makes  a 
race. 

While  James  I,  coming  from  Scotland  to  take 
the  throne  of  Elizabeth,  was  conferring  with 
Puritans  and  Catholics  with  reference  to  church 
order  and  discipline  and  endeavoring  to  find 

234 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

a  middle  ground  by  which  a  little  more  religious 
freedom  might  be  allowed,  historic  events, 
greater  than  the  conference  at  Hampton  Court 
or  any  other  such  assemblage,  were  taking 
place  quite  in  secret.  Little  groups  of  men  and 
women  seeking  to  worship  God  as  they  believed 
in  simplicity  and  truth  were  hiding  away  from 
the  hand  of  persecution  and  endeavoring  to 
avoid  public  scrutiny. 

In  1606  the  church  at  Scrooby  was  formed 
and  its  three  leading  men  were  William  Brew- 
ster, William  Bradford  and  John  Eobinson; 
the  latter  educated  at  Cambridge,  the  Univer- 
sity of  one  John  Milton,  and  many  another  rebel 
against  old  forms  of  life.  In  1608  the  Pilgrims, 
as  they  were  afterward  called,  fled  to  Holland 
and  reached  Leyden  just  as  Spain  had  given 
up  the  attempt  of  the  conquest  of  the  country. 
They  were  doubtless  very  much  influenced  by 
Holland,  and  the  struggle  of  that  country 
against  Spain  is  one  of  the  most  heroic  chapters 
in  history,  though  it  does  not  fall  into  the  plan 
of  this  work  to  trace  its  events.  It  is  a  mistake, 
however,  to  suppose  that  the  Dutch  furnished 
the  fundamental  ideas  of  American  life.  These 
English  pilgrims  were  given  a  hospitable  re- 
ception and  religious  freedom,  but  they  were 
English,  and  they  wished  to  remain  English. 

235 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

This  was  thought  to  be  impossible  for  so  small 
a  company  surrounded  by  a  foreign  people, 
though  by  this  time,  after  eleven  years  in  Ley- 
den,  they  had  increased  to  more  than  one 
thousand  souls.  They  determined,  therefore, 
to  found  a  colony  in  America  and  in  1620,  in  a 
ship  called  the  Mayflower,  they  set  sail  from 
England  "to  settle  in  the  Northern  parts  of 
Virginia.' '  How  correct  they  were  in  their 
view  of  the  necessity  of  separation  from  Hol- 
land in  order  to  remain  English  is  discovered 
by  the  disappearance  from  history  of  the  much 
larger  number  that  were  left  behind.  It  was 
the  one  hundred  and  two  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren who  reached  the  coast  of  Massachusetts 
that  really  counted.  In  the  cabin  of  the  May- 
flower was  born  a  democracy  which,  founded 
upon  freedom  of  religion,  naturally  included 
civil  liberty.  The  forty-one  men  signed  the 
Mayflower  compact: 

"In  the  name  of  God,  Amen!  We  whose 
names  are  under-written,  the  loyal  subjects  of 
our  dread  sovereign  Lord,  King  James,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  have 
undertaken  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honor  of 
our  King  and  Country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the 

236 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia; 
do  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and  mutually,  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  of  one  another  cove- 
nant and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil 
body  politic  for  our  better  ordering  and  pres- 
ervation, and  furthermore  of  the  ends  afore- 
said; and  by  virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute 
and  frame  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts, 
constitutions,  and  offices  from  time  to  time,  as 
shall  be  thought  most  mete  and  convenient  for 
the  general  good  of  the  colony;  unto  which  we 
promise  all  due  submission  and  obedience.  In 
witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  subscribed 
our  names,  at  Cape  Cod,  the  11th  of  November, 
in  the  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  Lord, 
King  James  of  England,  France  and  Ireland, 
the  Eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  the  Fifty- 
fourth,  Anno  Domini  1620. ? ' 

The  question  has  often  been  asked  how  it 
was  that  with  such  a  beginning  New  England 
united  church  and  state,  burned  witches,  per- 
secuted Quakers,  and  banished  Baptists.  It  is 
accounted  for  by  the  large  immigration  that 
came  from  England  as  a  result  of  the  failure 
of  the  Puritans  to  enthrone  Calvinism  and  Pres- 
byterianism.  The  little  Plymouth  colony  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  early  Separatist  's  princi- 
ples as  stated  by  John  Robinson : 

237 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

"That  every  particular  church  of  Christ  is 
only  to  consist  of  such  as  appear  to  believe  in 
and  obey  him." 

"That  any  competent  number  of  sugIi,  when 
their  consciences  oblige  them  have  a  right  to 
embody  into  a  church  for  their  mutual  edifi- 
cation.' ' 

1 1  That  the  officers,  being  chosen  and  ordained 
have  no  lordly,  arbitrary,  or  imposing  power, 
but  can  only  rule  and  administer  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  brethren." 

"That  no  churches  or  church  officers  what- 
ever have  any  power  over  any  church  or  offi- 
cers to  control  or  impose  upon  them;  but  are 
equal  in  their  rights  and  privileges,  and  ought 
to  be  independent  in  the  exercise  and  enjoy- 
ment of  them." 

William  Eobinson  was  not  the  only  man  who 
believed  in  religious  freedom.  Indeed  the  free- 
dom of  the  New  England  churches  was  based 
upon  the  rule  of  the  majority  of  each  particular 
congregation.  In  these  same  days  England 
had  men  who  saw  clearer  than  the  men  of  New 
England  what  must  be  the  doctrine  of  the  fu- 
ture. Said  William  Chillingworth,  "Though 
your  religion  to  us,  and  ours  to  you,  if  pro- 
fessed against  conscience,  would  be  damnable; 
yet,  may  it  well  be  uncharitable  to  define  it 

238 


INFLUENCE    OF   THE    REFORMATION 

shall  be  so  to  them  that  profess  either  this  or 
that  according  to  conscience. ' ' 

But  Jeremy  Taylor  (1613-1667),  though  a 
chaplain  of  Charles  I,  was  not  only  "the 
Shakespeare  of  divines ' '  but  in  his  ' l  Liberty  of 
Prophesying"  lays  altogether  new  foundations 
for  religious  unity.  It  is  worth  while  to  present 
a  few  citations  from  this  writer,  who  as  clearly 
as  any  man  of  any  time  taught  the  freedom  of 
the  individual  in  religious  association  with  his 
fellows. 

"Few  churches  that  have  framed  bodies  of 
confession  and  articles  will  endure  any  person 
that  is  not  of  the  same  confession;  which  is  a 
plain  demonstration  that  such  bodies  of  confes- 
sion and  articles  do  much  hurt,  by  becoming 
instruments  of  separating  and  dividing  com- 
munions, and  making  unnecessary  or  uncertain 
propositions  a  certain  means  of  schism  and 
disunion. ' ' 

"Matters  of  opinion  are  no  part  of  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  nor  in  order  to  it  but  as  they  pro- 
mote obedience  to  His  commandments:  and 
when  they  contribute  toward  it  are,  in  that  pro- 
portion as  they  contribute,  parts  and  actions 
and  minute  particulars  of  that  religion  to  whose 
end  they  do  or  pretend  to  serve.  And  such  are 
all  the  sects  and  all  the  pretenses  of  Christians 

239 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

but  pieces  and  minutes  of  Christianity  if  they 
do  not  serve  the  great  end." 

"Although  the  Spirit  of  God  did  rest  upon 
us  in  divided  tongues,  yet  so  long  as  those 
tongues  were  of  fire,  not  to  kindle  strife  but 
to  warm  our  affections  and  inflame  our  chari- 
ties, we  should  find  that  this  variety  of  opinions 
in  several  persons  would  be  looked  upon  as  an 
argument  only  of  diversity  of  operations,  while 
the  Spirit  is  the  same." 

"For  if  it  be  evinced  that  one  heaven  shall 
hold  men  of  several  opinions,  if  unity  of  faith 
be  not  destroyed  by  that  which  men  call  differ- 
ing religions,  and  if  an  unity  of  charity  be  the 
duty  of  us  all,  even  toward  persons  that  are  not 
persuaded  of  every  proposition  we  believe,  then 
I  would  fain  know  to  what  purpose  are  all 
those  stirs  and  great  noises  in  Christendom; 
those  names  of  faction;  these  are  all  become 
instruments  of  hatred ;  thence  come  schisms  and 
parting  of  communions,  then  persecutions,  then 
wars  and  rebellions,  and  then  dissolutions  of 
all  friendships  and  societies." 

The  world  has  even  now  far  to  go  before 
it  arrives  at  the  philosophy  of  this  great  and 
clear-sighted  thinker. 

The  Dutch  in  New  York  had  obtained  a 
charter   which  proposed   to   establish   a   new 

240 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

feudal  system  by  giving  to  each  man  who 
would  plant  a  colony  of  fifty  souls  sixteen 
miles  of  land  over  which  he  was  practically  to 
be  feudal  lord.  The  Dutch  Company  pledged 
itself  to  furnish  negroes  to  the  lords  of  the 
manors  and  the  colonists  were  to  establish  plan- 
tations, but  they  were  not  to  be  allowed  to 
manufacture  woolen,  linen  or  cotton,  on  penalty 
of  exile.  These  privileges  belonged  to  Holland. 
The  compact  of  the  Mayflower  may  be  com- 
pared with  these  proposals. 

It  is  not  needful  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
developments  of  the  colonies  during  the  next 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  There  were  forces 
at'  work,  both  social  and  natural,  to  create 
upon  the  new  continent  a  new  destiny  for  men. 
The  development  of  thirteen  colonies  with  their 
differences  in  religion  and  in  tradition  made 
religious  liberty  a  necessity  for  any  union 
among  them.  This  was  definitely  discovered 
when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
framed.  The  New  England  ideas,  represented 
by  the  men  of  the  Mayflower,  in  spite  of  the 
fewness  of  their  numbers,  were  destined  to 
dominate  the  whole  Republic.  It  was  not  only 
due  to  the  inherent  vitality  of  the  ideas,  for 
they  were  aided  by  social  and  political  interests. 
One  by  one  all  religious  tests  were  cast  aside 
M  241 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

by  every  state  in  the  union,  and  out  of  the  mul- 
tiplicity of  sects  there  came  the  unifying  result- 
ant of  equality  for  every  religion  before  the 
law. 

The  ideas  of  civil  liberty  cherished  by  the  pil- 
grims were  also  destined  to  conquer.  They,  too, 
were  aided  by  social  and  economic  considera- 
tions. The  land  was  wide  and  it  was  practically 
empty  of  men.  The  states  of  the  Middle  West 
were  eager  competitors  for  the  incoming  multi- 
tude of  immigrants.  Political  freedom  followed 
religious  liberty,  and  manhood  suffrage,  with- 
out regard  to  property,  having  once  been  of- 
fered by  one  state,  must  at  last  be  offered  by 
all.  In  like  manner  free  public  schools,  once  es- 
tablished anywhere,  were  bound  to  be  founded 
everywhere. 

Every  colony  in  America  had  a  religious 
foundation,  though  it  would  be  idle  to  deny  that 
the  economic  motive  for  immigration  has  been 
upon  the  whole  the  dominant  one.  In  America 
the  battle  of  institutions  has  been  fought  out 
and  political  democracy  has  won  its  final  and 
conspicuous  victory.  In  no  other  country  since 
the  dawn  of  time  has  simple  manhood  counted 
for  so  much  or  has  the  individual  been  fur- 
nished with  so  broad  an  opportunity.  The  re- 
sult has   not   been  entirely  satisfactory.    The 

242 


INFLUENCE    OF    THE    REFORMATION 

political  and  social  fabric  has  its  sneering  crit- 
ics and  these  gentlemen  are  not  wholly  without 
reason.  Nevertheless,  all  the  best  social,  re- 
ligious and  political  influences  the  world  has 
thus  far  known  combined  in  the  making  of  the 
American  people. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
DEMOCRACY  AND  EDUCATION 

If  religion  be  the  most  far-reaching  experi- 
ence of  self-conscious  man,  there  will  naturally 
be  a  very  significant  relation  between  the  faith 
of  a  social  group  and  its  culture.  Culture  and 
worship  are  ancient  synonyms,  but  E.  B.  Tyler 
informs  us  that  '  l  Culture  is  that  complex  whole 
which  includes  knowledge,  belief,  art,  morals, 
law,  customs,  and  any  other  capabilities  and 
habits  acquired  by  man,  as  a  member  of  soci- 
ety. ' '  The  priest  comes  before  the  king,  as  the 
altar  precedes  the  plow.  The  Greek  poet  in 
"Prometheus  Bound"  makes  all  the  arts  the 
gift  of  a  god  who  loves  the  human  race. 

The  development  of  every  form  of  beauty  is 
associated  with  worship,  and  the  whole  history 
of  art  is  another  form  of  the  history  of  re- 
ligion. Architecture,  statuary,  painting,  music, 
and  whatever  other  form  of  beauty  there  be, 
realizes  itself  among  any  people  only  as  it  is 
the  expression  of  their  faith  in  the  divine  and 

244 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

the  need  of  something  fine  in  which  to  express 
their  reverence.  So  temple  surpassed  palace; 
the  statues  of  the  god  are  nobler  than  those 
of  men,  and  the  portraits  of  the  Madonna  are 
lovelier  than  the  daughters  of  men. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  music  is  born 
in  the  church,  and  that  men  learn  to  sing  be- 
cause they  wish  to  praise.  More  fundamental 
than  any  part  of  the  discussion  hitherto  would 
be  an  exploration  into  the  need  and  strength 
of  the  social  bond.  Students  of  social  science 
now  agree  that  any  self-conscious  social  func- 
tion is  distinctly  human,  but  all  students  have 
not  recognized  that  the  relation  between  man 
and  man  is  always  profoundly  ethical.  Wher- 
ever a  group  of  human  beings  come  together, 
whether  in  a  family,  a  tribe  or  a  nation,  their 
relationships  take  the  form  of  rights  and 
duties.  Society  may  be  guided  by  intelligence, 
but  it  must  be  founded  upon  conscience.  That 
faculty  is  the  human  capacity  for  the  recogni- 
tion of  right  and  wrong.  Conception  of  right 
and  wrong  gives  rise  to  that  of  law;  and  faith 
in  a  divine  law,  however  dimly  outlined, 
always  precedes  faith  in  any  human  law  what- 
soever. The  history  of  the  state  must  include 
the  passage  of  human  life  from  the  reign  of 
custom  to  that  of  law,  from  the  caprice  of  the 

245 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE    CHURCH 

personal  will  to  the  rule  of  the  social  will,  ex- 
pressed in  institutions  and  constitutions.  It 
depends  at  last  upon  the  nature  and  strength 
of  its  religion.  Eeligion  furnishes  the  distinc- 
tions between  right  and  wrong,  grounds  them 
in  the  character  of  divine  government,  and 
makes  justice  both  reasonable  and  necessary. 
Whatever  may  be  the  future  of  human  society, 
hitherto  the  quickening  of  conscience  and  the 
extent  of  its  control  have  depended  upon 
the  idea  of  God. 

Whenever  any  form  of  religion  loses  its 
power  by  undergoing  change  or  decay,  the 
form  of  society  changes  also.  Eeligion  is  the 
trunk  of  which  all  the  various  social  activities 
are  the  branches.  If  the  trunk  dies,  there  are 
no  more  blooms  or  fruit.  If  upon  the  old  roots 
a  new  growth  of  religion  is  grafted,  time  must 
be  given  for  the  process  and  the  new  life  no 
longer  exhibits  itself  under  the  old  forms. 

The  relation  of  Christianity  to  culture  is 
more  definite  than  that  of  any  other  form  of  re- 
ligion and  its  results  are  more  striking.  The 
cult  of  the  Galilean  Peasant  had  a  marked  in- 
dividuality. With  a  careless  catholicity  it  in- 
cluded all  races  and  peoples  as  well  as  all  ranks 
of  society.  But  with  an  intensity  never  known 
before  it  insisted  not  only  upon  the  worship  of 

246 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

one  God,  but  upon  a  service  of  God  more  com- 
plete and  self-abandoning  than  the  world  had 
ever  seen.  As  it  reconsecrated  pagan  temples 
for  its  own  uses,  so  it  made  original  contribu- 
tions to  art  and  to  knowledge. 

It  did  not  compete  with  the  Greeks  in  statu- 
ary, perhaps  ever,  but  Greek  and  Hebrew  music 
compared  with  that  of  Christianity  was  like  the 
chirping  of  crickets  to  the  songs  of  lark  and 
nightingale.  In  beauty  the  Greek  temple  was 
supreme,  but  as  a  symbol  of  the  highest  aspira- 
tions of  the  human  soul  in  worship  the  Gothic 
cathedral  is  the  final  achievement  of  imagina- 
tion and  of  faith.  It  was  not  accidental  that 
Justinian  framed  a  new  code  of  Roman  law.  It 
was  an  effort  to  express  the  new  idea  of  human 
relations.  The  tumults  which  look'  like  battle 
and  sound  like  war  throughout  the  early  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era  between  all  human 
institutions  were  nothing  less  than  the  yeasty 
chaos  of  a  new  life  which  had  not  yet  assimi- 
lated the  material  of  the  Old  World. 

So  long  as  Greek  and  Latin  culture  were  re- 
garded as  real  expressions  of  life,  there  could 
be  nothing  but  war  to  the  death  between  them 
and  the  apostles  of  the  faith  of  Jesus.  The 
doctrine  of  Jesus  was  so  alien  and  his  revolu- 
tion was  so  profound  that  there  could  be  noth- 

247 


DEMOCRACY    AND    THE    CHURCH 

ing  like  compromise.  If  paganism  was  to  die, 
its  culture  must  be  abandoned  also.  The  poetry, 
the  history  and  the  art  of  the  classical  world 
were  expressive  of  a  sensuous  polytheism.  Poly- 
theism and  the  culture  which  it  had  produced 
must  perish  together.  When  paganism  as  a 
living  thing  was  once  gone  from  the  world,  like 
relic-hunters,  Christian  scholars  may  gather  up 
precious  fragments  of  ancient  beauty  in  manu- 
script or  stone,  and  be  delighted  with  their 
charm.  The  Christian  faith  demands  the  sur-"j 
render  of  every  other  faith,  and  with  imperious> 
splendor  claims  the  keys  to  the  gateways  of  the-/ 
world.  The  case  was  different  with  the  phi- 
losophy of  Greece,  for  the  philosophy  of  Greece 
was  precisely  the  heresy  of  Greek  life.  As  Soc- 
rates was  put  to  death  as  an  enemy  of  the 
Greek  gods  so  philosophy  was  the  occupation 
of  Greek  atheists.  The  ideas  and  the  methods 
of  thinking  that  had  been  destructive  of  the 
cause  of  Greece  and  Eome  made  friends  with 
the  Christian  faith,  whose  sources  of  power 
were  the  conscience  and  the  reason. 

Theology,  born  of  a  Hebrew  father  and  a 
Greek  mother,  became  the  chief  intellectual  in- 
terest of  Europe,  and,  despite  all  its  bad  for- 
tunes, it  is  doubtless  the  chief  intellectual  in- 
terest of  the  modern  world.     The  Greek  influ- 

248 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

ence  had  spread  because  of  Greek  empire  and 
Greek  colonies.  In  like  manner  the  Latin  lan- 
guage spread  with  Roman  rule.  It  so  happened 
that  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world  was 
Rome,  and  the  Latin  language  became  univer- 
sal. Greek  practically  disappeared  because  it 
was  no  longer  the  natural  medium  of  the  social 
life.  Greek  and  Latin  poets  were  cherished 
chiefly  by  Christian  priests  and  monks.  Indeed 
it  was  the  church  that  carried  in  its  institutions 
the  chief  survivals  of  classical  learning. 

The  conversion  of  various  tribes  and  peoples 
made  it  necessary  to  translate  the  scriptures 
and  prepare  liturgies  in  the  native  languages. 
Christianity  was  for  the  common  people  as  well 
as  for  their  leaders,  but  it  was  only  the  leaders 
who  knew  Latin.  A  multitude  of  early  versions 
made  the  early  Christian  teachers  pioneers  in  a 
wider  study  of  languages  than  had  been  at- 
tempted in  the  world  before.  They  were  pio- 
neers who  crossed  the  boundaries  of  Latin  cul- 
ture and  carried  at  least  some  of  its  treasures 
into  the  regions  beyond.  Gaul  may  have  been 
conquered  by  Caesar,  but  it  was  made  Latin  by 
Christians. 

As  time  went  on  the  church  grew.  Syste- 
matic education  was  developed  under  Christian 
auspices.  Every  cathedral  and  every  monastery 

249 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

aspired  to  have  connected  with  it  a  school, 
and,  whatever  diminution  we  choose  to  make 
on  account  of  supposed  exaggeration,  many 
of  these  schools  in  France  as  well  as  Italy- 
boasted  of  great  numbers  and  influence.  The 
legend  of  Ireland  rapidly  becoming  Christian 
and  civilized  as  the  intellectual  center  of 
Europe  has  at  least  some  basis  of  fact  Not 
only  did  Ireland  have  schools  with  thousands 
of  students,  but  England  had  its  centers  of  edu- 
cation as  well.  When  Charlemagne  wished  to 
transform  his  court  into  an  intellectual  center, 
he  called  Alcuin,  an  English  churchman,  to  be 
at  the  head  of  his  great  academy.  We  have 
now  in  addition  to  the  church  schools  the  palace 
school,  but  this  would  have  been  impossible 
without  the  church.  There  was  the  study  of 
grammar,  music,  rhetoric  and  logic,  as  well  as 
the  classic  poets. 

As  early  as  the  twelfth  century  there  were 
groups  of  scholars  meeting  together  with  their 
pupils  in  certain  centers  of  population  which 
because  of  the  scholars  became  also  centers  of 
learning.  These  early  Universities  depended 
upon  teachers  rather  than  upon  places,  and 
towns  or  princes  often  vied  with  each  other  in 
offering  inducements  to  distinguished  men  to 
accept  their  patronage.    The  historic  center  of 

250 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

this  high  learning  was  in  the  University  of 
Paris,  to  which  many  English  scholars  often 
resorted.  Ont  of  some  obscurity  Oxford 
emerged  as  a  University  town.  Eome,  Bologna, 
Naples  and  other  cities  sought  to  establish 
great  schools  of  their  own.  These  Universities, 
as  they  were  called,  though  not  directly  con- 
nected with  cathedral  or  monastery,  were 
nevertheless  always  under  the  patronage  of  the 
church,  and  theology  was  the  subject  of  first 
importance  in  their  curriculum.  They  also 
taught  civil  and  canon  law,  some  history,  usu- 
ally a  good  deal  of  logic  and  rhetoric.  Very 
soon  teachers  of  medicine  were  found  in  nearly 
all  of  them.  The  Universities  of  those  days 
were  associations  of  teachers  and  students, 
where  instruction  was  given  in  theology,  law 
and  medicine,  and  everything  else  was  subordi- 
nate or  collateral.  These  foundations,  some- 
times laid  by  the  pope  or  bishop,  sometimes  by 
the  king  or  noble,  have  broadened,  increased 
and  enriched  until  they  have  become  the  great 
seats  of  learning  of  modern  times.  Two  things 
are  often  said  which  cannot  both  be  true.  The 
one  is  that  medieval  education  was  bound  hand 
and  foot  to  the  study  of  the  classics  and  of 
mathematics,  and  the  other  is  that  the  church 
fettered  the  world  until  the  knowledge  of  the 

251 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

classics  somehow  or  other  broke  her  spell  and 
set  the  captives  free. 

"With  the  rise  of  the  towns  and  the  increase 
of  wealth  among  the  artisan  and  commercial 
classes,  there  came  the  ambition  for  schools 
suited  to  the  wants  of  the  general  citizenship, 
and,  after  printing  had  made  books  cheap,  it 
was  the  desire  even  of  the  peasantry  to  learn 
to  read  and  so  have  for  themselves  a  share  in 
the  knowledge  and  thought  of  the  day.  These 
schools  were  sometimes  a  municipal  undertak- 
ing, were  sometimes  under  private  patronage, 
and  sometimes  were  managed  by  the  teachers 
themselves.  In  the  days  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  these  schools  were  not  free 
and  the  fees  varied  according  to  the  instruc- 
tion given  and  to  some  extent  according  to  the 
wealth  of  the  patrons. 

It  is  contended  by  so  accomplished  a  scholar 
as  Thomas  Davidson  that  the  universities  of 
Europe  owed  their  foundation  to  an  imitation 
of  the  Mohammedan  centers  of  learning.  The 
Universities  at  Cairo,  Bagdad  and  other  places 
had  their  foundation  in  about  the  year  900,  and 
except  that  of  Cairo  came  to  an  end  early  in 
the  twelfth  century.  There  are  some  matters 
to  consider  in  connection  with  this  supposed 
influence  of  Moslem  learning.    At  a  very  early 

252 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

date  pagan  scholars  and  philosophers  were 
converted  to  Christianity,  and  became  fathers 
of  the  church.  Christian  theology  in  the  begin- 
ning had  its  origin  in  an  effort  to  harmonize 
the  facts  of  faith  with  the  doctrines  of  the 
Greek  schools. 

The  Gnostics,  or  the  knowing  ones,  worked 
in  the  Greek  spirit,  but  were  outside  the  stream 
of  the  Catholic  tradition.  No  one  can  believe 
that  the  cathedral  and  monastic  schools  owed 
their  origin  to  outside  influences.  It  is  certain 
that  the  great  Alcuin,  who  organized  education 
for  Charlemagne,  was  the  disciple  of  no  Arab, 
and  the  learning  of  Britain  had  a  home  in  some 
kind  of  a  university  at  Oxford  about  the  time 
the  University  of  Cairo  was  founded.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  Christian  scholars  wished  to 
study  the  teaching  of  Mohammed,  because  there 
was  at  that  time  as  there  is  now  only  this  rival 
in  the  world  to  contest  the  claims  of  Christian- 
ity. There  seems  little  doubt  that  some  ele- 
ments of  Chemistry  and  some  knowledge  of 
Medicine  came  from  the  Arabs.  But  how  futile 
is  all  this  when  one  recalls  that,  as  Paul  was 
indebted  to  the  Jew  and  to  the  Greek,  so  Mo- 
hammed was  a  debtor  to  Abraham  and  to  Jesus. 
It  would  clear  up  the  mind  with  respect  to  the 
question  if  men  could  remember  that  the  faith 

253 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  Mohammed  is  based  upon  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian sources.  Had  Eastern  bishops  been  wise 
enough,  the  great  Arab  prophet  would  have 
been  a  Christian  and  the  history  of  the  world 
would  have  been  changed.  The  great  indi- 
vidual counts  in  self-conscious  evolution  as  he 
does  not  in  the  ordinary  processes  of  history. 
But  such  universities  as  the  Arabs  possessed 
were  religious  institutions.  The  University  of 
Cairo  exists  to-day  and  is  merely  an  open  space 
with  a  stone  floor  attached  to  a  mosque.  It  is 
no  university  in  any  modern  sense,  but  it  is  a 
theological  school  and  often  upon  the  bare 
stones,  and  sometimes  upon  rugs  spread  over 
them,  students  may  be  seen  in  a  crouching  pos- 
ture or  upon  their  knees  reciting  over  and  over 
again  passages  from  the  Koran  or  its  com- 
mentaries, in  the  devout  attitude  of  excited  wor- 
shipers. Anyone  who  has  visited  such  a  uni- 
versity will  know  how  far  removed  it  is  from 
the  experiment,  the  comparison,  and  the  reflec- 
tion of  Western  education. 

Another  word  must  be  spoken  in  this  connec- 
tion concerning  the  revival  of  learning.  That 
revival  dates  from  no  single  time.  The  his- 
tory of  learning  passed  through  its  definite 
phases.  The  Greek  influence  was  early.  This 
was  supplanted  by  the  Latin  organization  of 

254 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

the  Roman  church.  There  were  great  scholars 
in  the  church  long  before  the  date  which  is  as- 
signed to  the  revival  of  learning,  and  the  fall 
of  Constantinople,  in  1453,  is  the  merest  inci- 
dent in  the  history  of  thought.  Certainly  An- 
selm  (1033-1109)  and  Bernard  were  influenced 
by  Plato,  while  the  movement  represented  by 
Abelard  (1079-1142)  introduced  the  world  to  a 
critical  method  founded  upon  Greek  logic  and 
having  for  its  purpose  the  development  of  a 
rational  theology.  We  may  agree  with  David- 
son in  the  statement  that,  "  Abelard  was  the 
first  modern  man. '  \  There  were  private  Greek 
teachers  in  many  places  in  Europe  more  than 
fifty  years  before  the  fall  of  Constantinople, 
and  the  Vatican  library,  founded  by  Pope 
Nicholas  V,  before  that  date  possessed  many 
manuscripts  in  Greek  and  Latin.  It  is  now 
also  certain  that  from  the  schools  of  the  Irish 
and  Scotch  monks  the  Graeco-Latin  stream  of 
culture  flowed  to  the  Continent.  The  marvel  is 
that  the  Christian  church  did  so  much,  placed 
as  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a  broken  world,  with- 
out orderly  government,  and  scarcely  was  it 
through  with  the  conquest  of  the  Goths  and 
Vandals  before  it  was  assailed  in  various  quar- 
ters by  the  ravaging  Norsemen.  In  the  mean- 
time such  parts  of  Europe  as  were  not  in  dan- 

255 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

ger  from  without  were  torn  with  conflict  and 
dissension  within,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these 
dangers  as  well  as  its  own  weaknesses  and  its 
sins,  the  church  was  throughout  the  centuries 
the  chief  social  organ  for  the  maintenance  of 
scholarship  and  the  spread  of  learning. 

The  Eenaissance  furnished  us  the  New 
World  and  the  New  World  brought  in  the  Prot- 
estant Reformation. 

Martin  Luther  was  not  at  all  satisfied  with 
the  Burgher  schools  and  said  very  harsh  things 
with  respect  to  the  prevailing  methods  of  edu- 
cation. In  the  matter  of  education  it  were  easy 
to  show  that  Martin  Luther  was  the  forerunner 
of  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel.  He  demanded  that 
children  should  be  treated  with  tenderness,  and 
that  they  should  have  a  larger  share  of  free- 
dom. He  wished  teachers  of  both  sexes,  but 
all  of  them  carefully  trained.  But  his  main 
contribution  was  not  so  much  in  the  matter  of 
methods  as  it  was  in  its  popular  tendency.  He 
wanted  schools  that  would  reach  the  children 
of  the  laboring  classes,  and  he  urged  that  even 
those  young  people  who  were  compelled  to  earn 
their  living  with  their  own  hands  should  be  per- 
mitted to  attend  school  for  one  or  two  hours  a 
day.  This  was  the  first  voice  raised  in  behalf 
of  the  education  of  all  the  people,  and  his  glory 

256 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

is  not  dimmed  by  criticism  of  his  attitude  to- 
ward the  new  astronomy  or  by  contempt  for 
the  program  of  education  which  he  proposed. 

John  Knox  has  to  his  credit  the  leadership 
in  the  establishment  of  the  parish  schools  of 
Scotland,  and  ever  since  his  time  the  average  of 
intelligence  among  the  Scotch  peasants  has 
been  higher  than  in  any  other  European  coun- 
try. It  is  no  wonder  that  Thomas  Carlyle,  son 
of  a  stone  mason,  but  educated  in  a  Scotch 
university,  should  speak  of  John  Knox  in  a  way 
that  seems  to  the  sober  reader  like  mere  rhap- 
sody. Thomas  Carlyle,  rebel  though  he  was, 
remained  Calvinist  to  the  core  and  has  John 
Knox  for  his  spiritual  father.  Not  Carlyle 
alone,  but  the  average  Scotch  boy,  knows  that 
through  education  he  may  rise  from  his  pov- 
erty to  at  least  a  decent  economic  position  in 
society  as  well  as  to  a  fuller  and  richer  life  for 
his  own  personality. 

For  the  men  of  New  England  the  school- 
house  was  as  important  as  the  church,  and  pop- 
ular education  was  their  early  aim.  Harvard 
University,  in  Massachusetts,  was  founded  by 
a  clergyman  who  had  graduated  at  Cambridge, 
England,  though  the  son  of  a  butcher,  and  who 
gave  three  hundred  books  and  half  of  his  estate 
as  the  humble  beginning  of  this  important  seat 
is  257 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  learning.  It  was  a  short  step  from  the  ideal 
of  popular  education  held  by  the  people  of  New 
England  to  the  development  of  a  system  of  free 
schools  finally  established  in  every  state  of  the 
Union.  These  schools,  supported  by  public  tax- 
ation, are  the  hope  of  democracy.  They  are 
the  one  social  organ  by  which  the  vast  immi- 
gration from  the  nations  of  Europe  has  been 
assimilated.  The  free  public  schools  are  des- 
tined to  produce  the  future  American,  a  com- 
posite of  strange  and  varied  human  elements, 
but  dominated  by  Anglo-Saxon  convictions. 
Popular  education  was  begun  and  continued 
by  the  church  and  taken  over  by  the  state 
as  that  institution  became  the  most  important 
representative  of  the  common  life  of  the 
people. 

But  before  there  were  free  schools,  the 
schools  of  the  church  sought  out  promising 
youths,  whether  among  the  rich  or  the  poor,  to 
train  them  for  the  service  of  the  church.  It 
was  a  question  of  ability.  Many  places  were 
bought  and  sold,  many  priests  were  stupid,  but 
the  one  gateway  by  which  the  son  of  the  peasant 
might  rise  to  a  place  of  power  was  the  open 
door  into  the  church  school.  The  "Republic  of 
Letters' '  is  a  familiar  phrase,  but  the  democ- 
racy of  scholarship  is  a  fundamental  fact.    It 

258 


DEMOCRACY   AND   EDUCATION 

was  true  in  the  classical  world  that  on  occa- 
sion a  boy  of  talent  might  find  a  patron  in- 
terested in  his  future  and  willing  to  help  him 
on  his  way.  The  church  was  an  organized  in- 
stitution. It  had  need  of  a  multitude  of  work- 
ers and  in  its  best  days  it  wished  for  the  best 
available  human  material. 

The  genetic  study  of  history  indicates  the  in- 
fluence of  manifold  forces  in  the  making  of 
social  forms.  Examination  of  the  life  of  any 
people  shows  that  the  kind  of  religion  they  have 
is  the  analogue  of  all  other  achievements.  But 
it  is  more  than  an  analogue,  because  it  has  al- 
ways been  the  most  fundamental  social  neces- 
sity. Modern  conflicts  between  scientists  and 
theologians  are  responsible  for  an  abundance 
of  denunciatory  literature  as  well  as  quite 
numerous  and  futile  attempts  to  reconcile  old 
forms  of  belief  with  modern  discoveries.  Now 
as  ever  it  is  vain  to  attempt  to  put  new  wine 
into  old  skins.  However,  conflicts  between  indi- 
viduals and  upon  special  points  are  of  no  sig- 
nificance. The  amazing  thing  about  the  vast 
controversies  which  have  raged  during  the  past 
fifty  years  has  been  the  effort  upon  the  part 
of  men  who  have  adopted  scientific  vocations 
to  show  that  the  conflicts  are  fundamental  and 
that  the  church  is  really  the  natural  enemy  of 

259 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

knowledge.  The  lack  of  perspective  in  all  these 
histories  of  "warfare"  is  slightly  irritating  to 
those  who  would  expect  better  things  from  men 
who  affirm  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 

The  neglected  fact  on  the  part  of  such  men  as 
Dr.  White  and  Professor  Draper  is  that  con- 
flict is  not  an  accident,  but  it  is  a  necessary  ele- 
ment in  all  progress.  Such  men  look  on  joy- 
ously at  what  they  call  the  * '  struggle  for  exist- 
ence'J  and  see  as  its  final  outcome  a  world  full 
of  beauty  and  order.  This  is  the  biological  per- 
spective. Authorities  in  social  science  teach 
us  the  importance  of  conflict  between  social 
groups,  and  also  between  classes  within  the 
groups.  Not  only  does  the  battle  of  ideas  rage 
wherever  men  congregate,  but  the  struggle  of 
institutions  is  a  part  of  the  fabric  of  history. 

The  ethical  teachings  of  Jesus  have  con- 
tended with  the  bad  passions  of  men  in  all  gen- 
erations, and  the  victory  is  very  far  from  being 
completed  even  in  statutes  and  constitutions,  to 
say  nothing  about  individual  life  and  character. 
Every  new  thought  that  comes  into  the  world 
must  of  necessity  fight  for  recognition,  and 
every  new  science  has  been  born  through  many 
pains.  Ordinary  discussions  of  the  relations  of 
the  church  to  scientific  discovery  are  a  mere 
caricature  of  the  facts.     Churchmen  were  not 

260 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

only  the  makers  of  theology,  but  they  were  the 
leaders  in  all  intellectual  effort.  "Albertus 
Magnus' '  (1205-1280)  gave  foundations  to  Bot- 
any and  Chemistry.  He  earned  his  title  ' '  Mag- 
nus" because  his  works  were  regarded  as  a 
cyclopedia  of  all  human  knowledge  in  his  time. 
And  who  was  this  Albert  the  Great?  He  was 
a  Dominican  monk.  Eoger  Bacon  (1214-1294) 
was  indeed  imprisoned  by  the  authority  of  the 
church;  but  who  was  Roger  Bacon!  He  was  a 
Franciscan  friar.  He  wrote  theology  and  phi- 
losophy, but  it  was  his  treatise  upon  geography 
that  fell  into  the  hands  of  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, and  was  the  leading  influence  upon  his 
mind.  It  may  be  that  America  would  have  re- 
mained undiscovered  for  another  hundred 
years  but  for  that  treatise.  At  any  rate  the 
finger  of  Roger  Bacon  pointed  the  way. 

He  was  also  the  founder  of  experimental  sci- 
ence. It  was  he  who  declared  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  examine  the  fact  and  to  verify  the  con- 
clusion. Experimental  science,  he  declares,  dis- 
covers new  truths  and  investigates  the  secrets 
of  nature.  Some  hundreds  of  years  before  this 
man  the  great  Alcuin  was  not  only  the  master 
of  the  palace  school  of  Charlemagne  but  he  was 
also  engaged  in  gathering  up  such  medical 
knowledge  as  existed,  and  Charlemagne  is  said 

261 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

at  his  instance  to  have  planted  a  garden  for 
the  growth  of  healing  herbs.  No  one  will  dis- 
pute that  the  three  great  interests,  law,  medi- 
cine and  theology,  grew  up  under  the  patronage 
of  the  church.  The  sting  in  the  mind  of  the 
ordinary  critic  is  that  the  statement  is  too  true, 
and  that  the  process  by  which  education  has 
been  set  free  from  the  church  has  been  too  slow. 
For  illustration  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
critics,  it  is  perhaps  possible  now  to  take  a 
calm  view  of  the  English  conflicts  in  which  the 
church  on  the  one  side  seems  to  stand  over 
against  a  company  of  men,  of  whom  the  fore- 
most names  are  Darwin,  Spencer  and  Huxley. 
But  who  was  Charles  Darwin  f  He  was  the  son 
of  pious  parents.  He  came  under  the  influence 
of  Dr.  Samuel  Butler,  the  famous  churchman 
and  teacher  at  the  boys*  school  in  Shrewsbury, 
and  afterward  he  was  educated  in  Edinburgh 
and  Cambridge.  Herbert  Spencer  had  for  his 
most  direct  intellectual  influence  his  uncle,  the 
Reverend  Thomas  Spencer.  Mr.  Huxley  seems 
to  have  had  very  few  advantages  save  the  all- 
important  one,  that  he  was  an  Englishman, 
brought  up  in  the  midst  of  an  English  and  a 
Christian  civilization.  No  bishop  of  England, 
however,  attacked  Darwin  any  more  fiercely 
than  did  his  fellow  scientist,  Agassiz. 

262 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

Every  advance  of  learning  has  been  a  con- 
flict between  human  inertia  and  the  dynamic 
of  freshly  discovered  facts  or  new  scientific  the- 
ories. But  this  is  a  universal  law  and  has  only 
incidental  application  to  the  church.  The  new 
method  of  doing  business  must  fight  all  the  old 
traditions  until  it  proves  its  right  of  way  by 
being  cheaper  and  better.  Every  new  inven- 
tion is  doubted  and  sneered  at  until  it  makes 
money  for  its  owner.  This  is  not  only  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  process  of  values,  but  with  the 
best  will  in  the  world  it  is  the  only  wise  thing 
for  sensible  men.  Of  a  thousand  gravely  pro- 
posed new  scientific  discoveries  we  are  fortu- 
nate if  one  prove  true.  Most  new  methods  of 
doing  business  end  in  bankruptcy,  and  the  vast 
majority  of  labor-saving  machines  will  not 
work,  and  become  old  iron. 

The  English  conflict  of  the  middle  and  latter 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  as  intense 
as  that  arising  from  the  Copernican  astronomy 
or  any  other  form  of  scientific  heresy.  These 
doctrines  have  been  heresy  to  the  church  be- 
cause they  have  been  first  questioned  or  re- 
jected by  the  great  body  of  living  scholars.  The 
church  adopts  the  new  theories  after  they  have 
been  approved  by  the  experts. 

Charles  Darwin,  the  central  figure  of  the  new 
263 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

dispensation,  did  not  have  long  to  wait  for  cler- 
ical recognition.  When  he  died  England 
mourned  the  departure  of  a  genius  of  the  first 
order,  and  he  was  accorded  a  burial  place  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  He  had  acquired  a  place 
among  Britain's  poets,  saints  and  heroes,  but 
over  his  silent  dust  the  hymns  of  the  church 
surge  on  in  victory. 

The  critics  of  the  intellectual  position  of  the 
church  fail  to  show  anything  like  consistency. 
To  begin  with,  they  tell  us  that  the  church  is 
the  enemy  of  human  knowledge.  It  has  objected 
to  geology,  evolution,  as  well  as  in  earlier  times 
to  geography  and  astronomy.  Meantime  the 
names  of  the  discoverers  were  nearly  always 
churchmen  or  trained  in  Christian  schools. 

On  the  other  hand  we  are  informed  that 
Christianity  is  like  an  absorbent  sponge,  and 
only  valuable  as  it  soaks  up  Greek  paganism 
and  Arab  learning.  It  is  the  most  hospitable 
of  all  religions.  The  critics  should  get  together 
and  agree  among  themselves. 

It  remains  to  be  noted  that  a  few  men  with- 
out distinctly  religious  training,  and  who  have 
been  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
religion,  have  yet  made  important  contribu- 
tions to  human  knowledge.  It  is  not  enough 
to  say  that  the  number  is  very  few.    It  seems 

264 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

best  to  meet  the  issue  squarely  and  say  that 
these  men  were  only  possible  because  of  the 
faith  which  they  rejected,  and  though  they 
may  have  lacked  particular  religious  train- 
ing, they  appropriated  the  results  of  a 
Christian  civilization  from  their  surround- 
ings. The  whole  body  of  facts  must  be  taken 
together.  The  individual  is  possible  by  what' 
goes  before  him  and  what  surrounds  him.  This 
is  the  genetic  view  of  life.  Christianity  has  a 
right  to  lay  claim  to  all  the  achievements  by 
the  men  who  have  lived  under  a  civilization 
which  she  has  created  and  controlled. 

If  it  be  urged  that  in  recent  years  the  church 
has  less  influence  than  formerly,  and  that  we 
are  producing  a  generation  which  will  be  eman- 
cipated from  the  old  views,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  it  is  rather  too  early  to  boast  of  the 
achievement.  We  have  yet  to  see  whether 
morals  can  exist  without  religion,  imagination 
can  flourish  without  worship,  and  men  can 
achieve  greatness  without  a  soul. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  church  fathers 
conceived  the  earth  as  being  flat  and  believed 
it  to  be  the  center  of  the  universe.  They  also 
taught  that  the  seas  only  covered  one-seventh 
part  of  the  earth.  Curiously  enough  it  was 
precisely  upon  the  conviction  of  the  shortness 

265 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

of  the  voyage  from  Europe  west  to  Asia  that 
the  journey  of  Columbus  was  made  possible. 
i  l  Among  the  treasures  of  the  library  at  Seville, 
there  is  nothing  more  interesting  than  a  copy 
of  this  work  (Imago  Mundi)  annotated  by  Co- 
lumbus himself:  from  this  very  copy  it  was 
that  Columbus  obtained  confirmation  of  his  be- 
lief that  the  passage  across  the  ocean  to  Marco 
Polo  's  land  of  Zipango  in  Asia  was  short.  But 
for  this  error,  based  upon  a  text  supposed  to 
be  inspired  *,  it  is  unlikely  that  Columbus  could 
have  secured  the  necessary  support  for  his  voy- 
age. It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  single  theo- 
logical error  thus  promoted  a  series  of  voyages 
which  completely  destroyed  not  only  this  but 
every  other  conception  of  geography  based 
upon  the  sacred  writings. ' ' 2 

It  would  seem  according  to  Dr.  White  that 
theological  mistakes  have  not  always  been  vital, 
and  according  to  him  this  particular  error  re- 
sulted in  the  discovery  of  America.  As  there 
has  been  a  yesterday  of  life,  so  there  has  been 
a  yesterday  of  thought.  Nothing  less  was  to 
be  expected.  We  are  not  scandalized  by  a  his- 
tory of  thought  as  applied  to  Greek  philosophy 
or  German  philosophy.     Every  school  boy  is 

*II  Esdras  7. 

2 ' '  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology, ' '  Andrew  D.  White, 
Vol.  I,  p.  112. 

266 


DEMOCRACY   AND   EDUCATION 

familiar  with  the  history  of  literature.  One 
period  comes  upon  the  stage  and  passes  away 
to  be  followed  by  its  natural  successors.  In 
recent  years  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon 
both  works  of  Literature  and  Art  as  expres- 
sions of  the  social  life  of  the  period  in  which 
they  appeared. 

It  was  quite  necessary  that  there  should  be  a 
history  of  human  knowledge.  A  scientific  study 
of  Archaeology  is  a  thing  of  yesterday,  and  this 
study  has  reformed  all  accepted  Chronology. 
There  could  be  no  theory  of  the  antiquity  of 
man  until  there  had  been  a  search  for  the  earli- 
est remains  of  his  activities  based  upon  the 
principles  of  Roger  Bacon.  Physics,  Chemis- 
try and  all  the  other  sciences  have  changed  in 
theory  as  investigators  have  increased  the  num- 
ber of  ascertained  facts.  All  this  is  so  hu- 
man, so  natural,  so  in  harmony  with  the  whole 
process  of  development  that  the  only  wonder 
now  is  that  any  surprise  should  be  expressed. 

Theology  has  always  been  a  human  effort  to 
interpret  the  relation  between  man  and  God. 
Theology  is  a  science  and  it  also  has  had  its 
history.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  provides 
for  new  interpretations  in  the  evolution  of  doc- 
trine, and  Cardinal  Manning  nearly  fifty  years 
ago  wrote  a  work  on  the  "Temporal  Mission 

267 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE   CHURCH 

of  the  Holy  Ghost"  as  an  exposition  of  the  con- 
tinuous teaching  power  of  the  church.  On  the 
other  hand,  Dr.  Adolph  Harnack,  the  Protest- 
ant authority  of  Germany,  a  few  years  ago, 
wrote  a  book  on  the  "History  of  Dogma"  in 
which  he  seeks  to  show  the  process  by  which 
Christian  doctrines  have  been  developed  and 
the  circumstances  surrounding  them.  Both 
Catholic  and  Protestant  agree  to  the  evolution 
of  doctrine  in  the  Christian  church. 

Theology,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  being 
an  effort  at  rational  statement,  is  compelled  to 
deal  with  the  forms  of  knowledge  which  are 
current  from  age  to  age.  It  is,  therefore,  never 
final,  but  a  continuous  attempt  to  reinterpret 
its  fundamental  beliefs  in  harmony  with  all 
known  facts.  This  whole  process  is  a  movement 
toward  intellectual  freedom.  The  reason  why 
the  shock  is  greater  when  a  theological  change 
takes  place  is  on  account  of  the  tremendous  in- 
terests at  stake  in  which  the  personal  fortunes 
for  time  and  eternity  of  every  religious  man 
seem  to  him  to  be  involved. 

It  has  been  very  disturbing  to  note  the 
changes  that  have  been  brought  about  in  the 
domain  of  Physics  in  recent  years.  But  the 
number  of  supposed  atoms,  or  the  nature  of 
original  substance,  or  whether  matter  be  solid, 

268 


DEMOCRACY   AND    EDUCATION 

fluid  or  force,  are  not  vital  to  human  experi- 
ence. These  theories  have  created  no  such  dis- 
turbances in  the  religious  world  as  Copernican 
Astronomy  or  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  be- 
cause the  facts  of  Physics  have  entered  less 
into  the  consideration  of  Theology  than  those  of 
Geology  or  Astronomy.  There  is  something, 
however,  deeper  than  all  this :  Wise  men  may 
debate  stoutly  about  a  theory,  but  brave  men 
will  battle  fiercely  for  a  soul. 

The  freedom  of  teaching  and  the  freedom  of 
the  faith  are  necessary  to  a  final  spiritual  de-! 
mocracy.  They  are  also  consistent  with  the 
development  of  a  scientific  theology.  A  scien- 
tific theology  needs  behind  it  the  help  of  no 
councils,  the  authority  of  no  creeds,  and  the 
aid  of  no  church  organizations.  What  it  re- 
quires is  the  authority  of  ascertained  truth. 
But  the  freedom  of  teaching  is  something  quite 
as  much  required  in  political,  economic  and 
social  questions  as  it  is  anywhere  else.  It  is 
here  that  at  the  present  moment  the  essential 
battle  for  liberty  is  being  fought.  In  most 
countries  to-day  the  preacher  has  more  freedom 
than  the  professor,  and  particularly  where 
the  professor  is  under  the  control  of  great  in- 
terests that  require  a  static  view  of  society  for 
their  permanence. 

269 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Here  as  elsewhere  we  are  saved  when  we  re- 
turn to  the  teaching  of  the  Son  of  Man.  His 
disciples  saw  men  who  had  no  place  in  their 
ranks  casting  out  devils.  The  disciples  would 
have  prevented  all  this,  but  Jesus  knew  that  a 
good  deed  was  its  own  authority  and  asserted 
the  doctrine  that  all  seekers  after  goodness  are 
forever  one.  The  seekers  after  truth  belong 
also  to  an  imperishable  brotherhood,  and  this 
brotherhood  is  a  Democracy  of  Souls,  for  the 
" Truth  shall  make  you  free." 

The  aristocracy  of  mind  is  the  only  success- 
ful enemy  of  the  aristocracy  of  position.  The 
few  can  control  so  long  as  the  many  are  in  ig- 
norance of  their  powers  and  their  rights.  Men 
who  have  the  opportunity  to  carry  up  from  the 
lowest  ranks  a  sense  of  the  humiliations  of  ab- 
ject poverty,  not  alone  hot  with  the  fire  of  angry 
passion,  but  clear  with  the  rational  insight  of 
what  society  may  be,  can  never  be  kept  in  sub- 
jection. The  school  is  an  aid  to  efficiency,  but 
it  is  also  the  foe  of  tyrants.  He  who  would 
keep  men  bound  in  mind  or  body  must  shut  out 
the  right  of  knowledge. 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  modern  cul- 
ture is  in  her  patronage  of  art,  her  creation  of 
schools,  and  her  multitude  of  teachers. 

But  it  is  far  deeper  than  all  this:  She  de- 
270 


DEMOCRACY   AND   EDUCATION 

throned  ancient  paganism,  civilized  the  man- 
ners of  barbarians,  created  new  social  bonds, 
and  laid  the  foundations  for  modern  culture. 
Her  sons  taught  in  the  schools,  explored  the 
world,  wrote  the  books,  and  she  herself  pre- 
sided at  the  birth  of  Science. 

But  deeper  and  more  vital  is  the  relation  of 
the  church:  She  knew  the  beauty  of  art  and 
the  value  of  knowledge,  but  most  of  all  she 
knew  the  worth  of  men.  She  has  not  always 
been  faithful  to  her  early  vows  at  the  altar  of 
humanity,  but,  in  spite  of  her  errors  or  her 
treacheries,  she  comes  back  at  last  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  right  of  every  man  to  the  best 
things,  simply  because  every  man  is  a  son  of 
God.  It  is  this  great  faith  that  resulted  at  last 
in  free  popular  education,  the  open  gateway 
to  individual  aspiration,  as  well  as  the  safe- 
guard of  social  institutions,  and  forever  essen- 
tial to  a  successful  democracy. 


CHAPTER  IX 
SOCIAL  SPIRIT  OF  MODERN  CHRISTIANITY 

We  men  of  to-day  are  too  much  the  immediate 
product  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  judge  it 
accurately,  but  we  know  at  least  that  it  is  sure 
to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  epochs  in 
all  history.  Nothing  in  it  was  quite  so  pictur- 
esque as  the  discovery  of  America,  or  the  cir- 
cumnavigation of  the  globe,  nor  quite  so  revolu- 
tionary as  the  astronomy  of  Copernicus,  and 
nothing  so  beautiful  was  produced  as  a  Greek 
Venus  or  a  Gothic  cathedral,  but  it  invaded 
more  fields,  it  destroyed  more  traditions,  it 
made  more  discoveries,  it  did  more  constructive 
work,  and,  in  all  the  range  from  the  workshop 
to  the  library,  it  scattered  its  bounties  with  the 
lavish  hand  of  enrichment. 

Its  inventions  and  discoveries  rearranged  the 
structure  of  society.  Steel,  steam  and  electric- 
ity moved  thousands  of  families  from  country 
homes  and  settled  them  in  cities.  The  factory 
and  the  machine  shop  became  standard  forms 

272 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

of  industrial  activity.  New  inventions  and  new 
methods  increased  both  the  supply  and  variety 
of  the  comforts  of  life.  The  wealth  of  the 
world  expanded  beyond  all  computation.  In 
Europe  the  remains  of  the  old  feudal  system 
were  rudely  shaken,  because  the  land  was  no 
longer  the  chief  foundation  of  wealth  and 
power.  It  was  an  economic  dethronement  of 
the  old  aristocracy.  The  new  aristocracy  of 
wealth  arose,  more  virile  indeed  but  less  gentle 
than  the  social  leadership  of  the  past.  Brewers 
became  barons,  peasants  bought  the  estates 
where  their  ancestors  worked  as  serfs,  the  im- 
perial power  melted  away,  and  kings  and  cabi- 
nets waited  to  hear  from  their  bankers  before 
deciding  upon  their  policies.  The  prizes  of  the 
world  were  distributed  among  the  captains  of 
industry  rather  than  among  soldiers  and  states- 
men. 

The  city  problem  created  by  the  massing  of 
factories  for  production,  and  the  making  of 
centers  of  distribution  for  commerce,  presented 
new  and  visible  disasters.  In  the  great  in- 
dustrial nations  the  laborers  were  not  needed 
and  could  not  live  in  country  places.  They 
were  compelled  to  find  work  and  a  livelihood 
in  the  city.  Great  wealth  was  concentrated  in 
a  few  hands,  but  the  enormous  production  made 
19  273 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

material  comforts  more  widespread  among  the 
masses  of  the  people  than  was  ever  known  in 
the  world  before.  At  the  same  time  conges- 
tion of  population  in  factory  districts  in  the 
cities  gave  birth  to  new  forms  of  misfortune, 
and  palaces  at  one  end  of  the  city  with  bar- 
baric display  of  wealth  deepened  the  shame  of 
wretched  tenements  at  the  other  end  of  the  city 
where  the  people  became  debased  and  de- 
bauched. 

Neither  growth  of  wealth  nor  its  unequal 
distribution,  nor  concentration  of  population, 
nor  its  resultant  evils,  are  the  chief  expression 
of  a  time  so  rich  in  great  men  and  in  great 
deeds. 

The  chief  fact  in  government  was  the  decline 
of  personal  power  and  the  growth  of  constitu- 
tions. But  what  is  known  as  liberalism  in  pol- 
itics was  by  no  means  the  dominant  note.  The 
political  changes  of  the  time,  studied  closely, 
reveal  a  new  dignity  in  the  state,  a  new  per- 
vasiveness of  its  authority,  a  new  social  im- 
perialism to  take  the  place  of  decaying  thrones. 
The  vast  authority,  claimed  and  exercised  by 
the  state,  humbled  the  authority  of  the  home  no 
less  than  that  of  the  church  as  an  organization. 
Practically  in  every  country  the  secular  author- 
ity proclaimed  its  supremacy.    The  battle  with 

274 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

the  church  as  a  competitor  of  the  state  was 
fought  out,  and  the  church  was  finally  defeated. 
In  a  still  more  marked  degree  did  the  enthrone- 
ment of  the  state  mean  the  limitation  of  the 
home.  The  ideal  of  the  Eoman  home,  with  its 
authority  in  the  head  of  the  family,  had  become 
greatly  dimmed  throughout  the  ages,  but  now 
it  was  to  be  destroyed.  The  state  in  the  in- 
terest of  society  claimed  the  right  to  prescribe 
the  conditions  upon  which  homes  should  exist, 
and  the  family,  the  primary  social  unit,  was 
more  profoundly  affected  than  was  the  church. 
The  latter  might  have  lost  much  of  its  wealth 
and  some  of  its  prestige,  many  of  its  former 
duties  were  taken  over  by  the  state,  but  along 
with  this  there  went  a  growing  independence 
of  the  church  in  all  matters  of  religion,  so  that 
in  its  own  sphere  there  has  never  been  a  time 
in  history  when  the  church  has  been  so  free  as 
now.  But  for  the  home  were  made  prescrip- 
tions of  every  kind.  Authority  over  the  child 
has  been  taken  from  the  parents;  economic 
standards  and  standards  of  morality  are  alike 
defined  and  enforced;  a  man's  cottage  is  no 
longer  his  castle,  and  the  castle  itself  is  sub- 
ject to  the  invasion  of  the  policeman.  The  uni- 
versal authority  of  the  state  as  the  comprehen- 
sive organ  of  social  life  is  everywhere  recog- 

275 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

nized.  Through  their  government  all  the  people 
act  together,  and  secure  the  enforcement  of  the 
public  will.  In  all  respects  this  process  is  not 
complete,  but  it  is  on  its  way  to  finality.  Ques- 
tions of  public  health,  the  organized  adminis- 
tration of  the  social  life,  the  regulation  of  con- 
ditions of  labor,  the  right  of  eminent  domain, 
authority  over  corporate  and  business  activi- 
ties are  all  illustrations  of  a  new  social  order. 
So  much  for  social  organization,  but  even  more 
marked  are  the  intellectual  changes. 

The  life  of  our  modern  time  has  been  char- 
acterized by  a  new  and  intense  curiosity.  It  is 
something  more  than  the  scientific  spirit.  The 
scientific  spirit  may  offer  a  method,  but  it  does 
not  furnish  energy.  We  are  as  far  removed 
from  the  type  of  the  men  of  the  Renaissance 
as  these  were  different  from  the  old  Greeks, 
who  helped  to  inspire  them.  The  world  has  re- 
newed its  youth.  It  has  been  seized  upon  with 
a  new  wonder,  and  looks  at  all  things  with  the 
eyes  of  a  child,  but  with  the  imagination  of  a 
man.  It  is  this  curiosity  which  has  digged  up 
the  ruins  of  ancient  cities,  interpreted  old  hiero- 
glyphics, recovered  forgotten  languages,  found 
scholars  able  to  write  the  history  of  lost  na- 
tions and  has  made  the  pick  and  the  spade 
rivals  of  the  crucible  or  the  mariner's  compass. 

276 


MODERN   CHRISTIANITY 

We  do  not  know  all  that  has  happened  in  the 
ages  that  are  gone,  bnt  it  is  quite  within  the 
bounds  of  modesty  to  say  that  we  know  as  much 
of  any  age,  take  it  all  in  all,  as  the  people  did 
who  lived  in  it.  "We  do  not  know  quite  as  much 
of  Athens  as  did  the  Greeks,  nor  as  much  of 
Nineveh  as  did  the  Assyrians,  but  we  know 
more  of  the  world  outside  of  Athens  and  Nine- 
veh in  their  own  time  than  any  of  their  schol- 
ars knew. 

The  results  of  archaeology  have  checked  up 
the  results  of  old-fashioned  history  and  its 
achievement  is  almost  as  great  in  what  it  has 
thrown  away  as  false  as  in  what  it  has  added 
of  new  discovery.  The  gaps  still  left  are  being 
filled  year  by  year,  and  scholarship  is  on  its 
way  to  a  complete  recovery  of  the  past.  The 
middle  of  the  last  century  was  characterized 
by  new  studies  in  life  of  every  form,  and  prac- 
tically all  the  sciences  were  rewritten.  The 
latter  half  of  the  century  was  characterized  by 
a  fresh  curiosity  in  regard  to  man  himself,  and 
the  human  sciences  were  developed.  The  final 
conclusions  of  the  study  of  races,  of  social 
groups,  and  of  the  various  forms  of  human  life 
are  not  complete,  but  here,  too,  we  are  on  the 
way. 

The  effect  of  this  modern  curiosity  is  seen 

277 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

not  alone  in  the  resultant  discoveries,  nor  per- 
haps is  it  chiefly  manifested  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  knowledge.  There  has  been  born  a  new 
form  of  social  sympathy  manifesting  its  activi- 
ties in  many  ways.  In  government  it  has  given 
rise  to  large  and  complex  organization,  taking 
in  various  races,  and  making  accommodation 
with  easy  tolerance  for  diverse  and  even  antag- 
onistic manners  and  customs.  It  has  produced 
such  a  phenomenon  as  the  United  States  of 
America,  where  diverse  races  and  alien  faiths 
are  brought  together  under  a  democratic  gov- 
ernment as  strong  as  it  is  elastic,  and  which  is 
steadily  fusing  the  mass  into  a  new  type  of 
human  kind.  We  are  discovering  that  the 
forms  of  institutions  are  the  result  of  the  social 
mind  within,  the  efficient  cause  of  social  con- 
ditions. People  will  at  the  last  have  as  good 
institutions  as  they  deserve.  What  is  the  best 
type  in  the  state  for  one  people  will  not  do  for 
another.  As  the  same  people  progress  their 
institutions  must  undergo  a  parallel  develop- 
ment. 

This  curiosity,  become  social  sympathy,  has 
bidden  men  look  with  other  eyes  upon  diver- 
gent forms  of  faith.  Time  was  when  one  re- 
ligion was  true  and  all  the  rest  were  false.  The 
time  has  come  for  a  study  of  comparative  re- 

278 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

ligion  with  a  desire  to  find  something  good  in 
every  one  of  them,  and  to  appraise  each  at  its 
true  value.  The  provincial  temper  is  disap- 
pearing everywhere — races,  nations,  religions, 
are  learning  better  manners.  The  process 
seems  to  have  been  first  curiosity,  then  infor- 
mation, followed  by  tolerance,  and  resulting  in 
sympathy.  We  may  hope  at  last  that  the  proc- 
ess of  selection  will  follow,  and  the  world  will 
go  on  its  way  to  a  cosmic  civilization. 

Many  influences  have  been  at  work  in  produc- 
ing the  results  briefly  sketched.  It  will  not  do 
to  underestimate  the  importance  of  commerce, 
but  commerce  has  been  in  the  world  since  the 
earliest  times;  the  Phoenicians  were  sailors  as 
well  as  the  English.  National  ambition  has  lent 
itself  to  the  process,  but  the  effort  for  world 
empire  is  not  new,  and  Rome,  though  even  more 
rapacious,  was  just  as  tolerant  as  Great  Britain. 
It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  the  human  mind  in 
modern  times  in  any  particular  center  has 
equaled  that  of  the  Greek  in  the  Golden  Days 
of  Athens,  but  there  has  been  a  steady  cumula- 
tion of  certain  forces  working  in  the  modern 
centuries,  and  which  have  found  their  fullest  ex- 
pression in  our  own  time.  What  has  all  this  to 
do  with  democracy  and  the  church?  Very 
much. 

279 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  spread  of  Christianity  began  with  an 
organized  missionary  movement  that  accepted 
literally  the  injunction  "to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  nations.' '  This  movement  continued  in 
full  force  for  several  centuries.  In  the  devel- 
opment of  the  church  organization,  and  in  solv- 
ing the  problems  which  it  had  to  face,  especially 
in  Europe,  missionary  activity  was  greatly  cur- 
tailed, though  the  missionary  motive  still  re- 
mained. After  the  Keformation  the  Roman 
church,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  developed  world-wide  missions  of  great 
significance,  though  of  a  special  character. 
Early  Protestantism  regarded  itself  as  chiefly 
in  conflict  with  the  Roman  Catholic  world,  and 
did  not  compete  with  the  strenuous  labors  of 
the  Jesuit  fathers.  The  movement  of  Loyola 
added  much  to  the  world's  knowledge  and  was 
an  important  factor  in  the  growth  of  social 
sympathy. 

The  Protestant  world  in  the  last  century 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  world-significance 
of  the  Christian  faith.  Missionary  societies 
were  organized  and  developed  with  a  fine  en- 
thusiasm but  without  much  worldly  wisdom. 
The  early  missionaries  were  almost  as  anxious 
to  persuade  the  savages  to  wear  European  trou- 
sers as  they  were  to  make  them  accessible  to 

280 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

new  thoughts  and  new  hopes.  They  attacked 
every  religion  of  the  heathen  with  a  demand  for 
its  immediate  surrender  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  wholly  false. 

The  by-products  of  missions  seem  to  some 
people  greater  than  their  direct  results.  It  was 
David  Livingstone  that  quickened  the  imagina- 
tion about  Africa  and  made  Henry  M.  Stanley 
possible.  The  missionaries  have  made  gram- 
mars and  dictionaries.  They  have  studied  flora 
and  fauna.  They  have  been  the  chief  source  of 
knowledge  in  regard  to  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  foreign  peoples.  They  have  opened 
new  roads  for  commerce.  They  have  given 
foreign  peoples  a  new  point  of  view  with 
respect  to  the  soul  of  the  English-speaking 
nations. 

Meantime  the  missionaries  themselves  have 
received  an  access  of  social  sympathy.  They 
have  helped  to  interpret  alien  life  in  a  new 
way.  The  early  plea  for  missions  helped  to 
furnish  an  enthusiasm  for  humanity.  Mission- 
ary operations  have  incidentally  enlarged  al- 
most every  field  of  human  knowledge,  but  di- 
rectly they  have  furnished  more  and  more  a 
fresh  commentary  upon  the  words  spoken  of 
old :  ' '  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 

281 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

earth. ' '  '  A  concrete  illustration  of  the  growth 
of  social  sympathy  was  found  at  the  close  of 
the  Boxer  massacre  in  China,  when  American 
missionaries  knowing  the  laws  and  customs  of 
China  were  able  to  make  settlements  for  de- 
struction of  life  and  property  before  the  Chi- 
nese government  acted  directly,  and  before  the 
intervention  of  the  powers  had  become  opera- 
tive, simply  because  the  native  villagers  knew 
that  it  was  cheaper  and  wiser  to  deal  with  the 
missionaries  than  with  the  invading  armies,  or 
with  their  own  government. 

The  world  spirit  of  to-day  has  gone  far  be- 
yond the  point  of  being  a  vague  dream  of  uni- 
versal brotherhood.  It  is  one  of  the  most  prac- 
tical things  in  every  domain  of  affairs.  It  has 
given  birth  to  a  spirit  of  international  politics, 
wholly  unknown  before  our  time.  The  great 
nations  look  far  beyond  their  own  boundaries 
to  discover  problems  and  duties.  For  the  mo- 
ment this  means  great  armaments  on  land  and 
sea  with  the  cloud  of  world  war  no  larger  than 
a  man's  hand,  but  which  may  fill  all  the  sky 
and  rain  blood  upon  the  earth.  The  movement 
for  international  peace  is  essentially  a  Chris- 
tian movement.  One  has  said  that  "war  is 
hell,,,  but  it  is  something  more: — It  is  a  colos- 

1  Acts  1 :  17-26. 

282 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

sal  folly.  Most  of  the  problems  for  which  men 
have  consented  to  be  shot  down  are  capable  of 
quite  other  solutions,  and  none  of  the  prizes  of 
war  is  at  all  adequate  to  meet  the  cost  of  it 
in  men  and  money.  The  movement  for  inter- 
national peace  finds  its  first  argument  and  its 
stronghold  in  the  teaching  and  organization  of 
Christianity,  but  it  also  finds  help  from  the 
mutual  interests  of  commerce,  and  from  the 
increasing  number  of  social  bonds  that  reach 
across  the  territorial  boundaries  of  nations  and 
combine  peoples  into  unity.  Local  patriotism 
is  not  dying  out — but  the  wider  sense  of  citizen- 
ship of  the  World  and  the  community  of  human 
interest  are  becoming  stronger  with  every  dec- 
ade. Every  cable  laid,  every  railroad  built, 
every  great  canal  dug,  are  essential  reasons  for 
world  peace. 

Political  and  economic  questions  are  no 
longer  local  issues,  nor  are  they  national  prob- 
lems. A  money  panic  in  one  capital  spreads 
throughout  the  world.  If  depression  of  trade 
visits  one  nation,  like  a  plague  it  spreads  to 
kindred  nations.  All  artificial  barriers  are  be- 
ing swept  away.  The  standards  of  values  are 
world-wide.  No  nation  can  afford  to  have 
money  that  is  not  good  in  every  market.  Meth- 
ods of  production  must  be  learned  from  those 

283 


DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

who  are  the  most  skillful,  and  those  who  refuse 
their  lesson  sink  into  poverty  as  shameful  as 
it  is  base.  The  standard  of  living  tends  to 
equalize  itself  throughout  all  the  civilized 
world.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  prophetic  of  a  cos- 
mic civilization  is  fulfilling  itself  before  the 
eyes  of  all  thoughtful  men. 

The  new  world  view  is  the  telescopic  vision 
of  Him  who  said  ' l  Go  disciple  all  nations,  teach- 
ing them  to  observe  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  But  the  microscopic  view  has 
made  the  home  problems  of  every  people  more 
distinct,  more  significant  and  more  compelling. 
We  have  gone  beyond  the  debate,  am  I  my 
brother's  keeper?  We  have  come  to  the  ques- 
tion, in  what  way  shall  I  serve  my  brother  so 
as  to  really  help  him,  and  neither  cripple  his 
energy  nor  his  self-respect?  This  is  the  ques- 
tion for  the  individual  and  for  the  social  group 
in  every  form. 

The  conditions  of  modern  times  have  not 
created  all  the  social  questions,  but  the  truth 
is  modern  eyes  alone  have  seen  the  social  ques- 
tions. Communism  of  the  modern  city  is  a  new 
thing  in  the  world  with  its  municipal  water  sup- 
plies and  lighting,  its  street  paving  and  its  san- 
itation, its  public  works  and  its  playgrounds,  its 
free  libraries  and  art  galleries.     It  has  given 

284 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

splendors  to  all  the  people,  some  of  which 
never  existed  before,  and  those  which  were 
in  existence  were  reserved  for  the  pleasure  of 
the  few. 

We  have  seen  the  evolution  of  democracy 
from  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  through  many  vicis- 
situdes in  history,  culminating  in  our  time.  But 
we  hear  many  voices  of  the  present  proclaim- 
ing that  the  modern  church  is  not  at  all  ade- 
quate to  its  own  tasks  and  does  not  live  up  to 
its  own  pretensions.  This  is  a  severe  indict- 
ment given  in  many  forms  and  deserves  some 
attention.  There  are  things  which  the  church 
used  to  do  formerly  which  it  does  not  do  at 
present.  Many  of  these  tasks  have  been  taken 
over  by  the  state.  In  nearly  every  European 
country  wealth  once  given  to  the  church  has 
been  taken  over  by  secular  authorities.  The 
loss  of  these  endowments  by  organized  Chris- 
tianity has  prevented  the  fulfilling  of  old  ob- 
ligations. This  fact  has  been  to  the  advan- 
tage of  all  concerned,  for  the  endowments 
of  the  church  were  too  much  of  an  economic 
burden. 

The  division  of  the  church  in  the  Western 
world  between  Catholic  and  Protestant  has 
compelled  the  church  to  act  indirectly  through 
the  state,  rather  than  by  its  own  organization 

285 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

in  attacking  many  problems.  The  greater 
growth  of  the  state  and  the  increase  of  its 
power,  one  of  the  direct  results  of  democracy, 
have  given  the  state  its  wider  sphere  of  influ- 
ence, and  have  compelled  a  far  more  active  par- 
ticipation in  local  affairs  than  ancient  govern- 
ments would  ever  have  dreamed  of  undertaking. 
This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  Christianity 
has  lost  in  any  wise  its  influence  upon  the  life 
of  society.  The  ethics  of  Jesus  have  become 
the  ethics  of  the  state.  The  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity has  become  much  wider  than  church 
organization.  The  Christian  purposes  and  tra- 
ditions of  the  centuries  have  saturated  litera- 
ture, created  social  ideals,  influenced  the  edu- 
cation of  statesmen  and  public  leaders,  and 
have  dominated  the  social  conscience  through- 
out the  world.  It  is  not  a  reproach  to  the 
church  if  we  are  beginning  to  see  in  the  world 
the  outlines  of  a  kingdom  of  God  to  be  realized 
among  men,  larger  than  any  ecclesiastical  or- 
ganization, though  inspired  and  guided  by  the 
fundamental  spirit  of  its  gospel.  The  new 
sense  of  social  obligation  and  the  new  enthusi- 
asm for  attacking  visible  evils  are  all  tributes 
to  the  victorious  vitality  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus. 

In  the  multiplication  of  avenues  of  human 
286 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

action,  in  the  formation  of  new  organs  for 
social  service,  the  church  as  an  institution  no 
longer  has  so  commanding  a  position  as  she  had 
in  days  when  she  was  so  powerful  that  she  was 
often  insolent.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  churches  still  carry  on  directly  a  large 
part  of  the  charity  work  of  the  world.  In  Prot- 
estant countries  the  various  sects  meet  together 
upon  a  common  platform  to  found  orphanages, 
to  build  hospitals,  to  care  for  the  poor  and  to 
engage  in  all  the  various  forms  of  social  ser- 
vice. The  Eoman  Catholic  church  in  England 
and  in  America,  without  government  aid  or  pat- 
ronage, has  developed  an  imposing  structure 
of  charitable  work  that  remains  the  admiration 
of  the  world.  It  would  not  be  a  reproach  to 
the  church  if  it  should  be  seen  that  it  has  be- 
come chiefly  the  teacher  rather  than  the  agent 
of  good  works.  What  it  has  lost  as  an  institu- 
tion it  may  have  gained  as  an  inspiration.  At 
any  rate  the  men  and  women  who  have  given 
the  money  for  modern  social  movements  and 
who  have  carried  forward  the  great  activities 
of  social  regeneration  are  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  church,  and  both  publicly  and  pri- 
vately confess  that  they  owe  their  activities  to 
her  urgency  and  their  plans  to  her  wisdom.  It 
is  often  stated  that  agnostics  or  infidels  exist 

287 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

by  millions  in  every  so-called  Christian  country, 
but  they  unite  together  in  no  good  work.  If 
they  have  conquered  the  intellect  of  the  time  it 
has  only  been  to  paralyze  its  heart.  If  the 
Christian  faith  be  in  its  death  agony,  even  so  it 
speaks  with  its  latest  breath  the  only  signifi- 
cant word  a  world  in  pain  is  able  to  hear.  The 
robust  young  skepticism  has  its  heart  seared 
with  selfishness  and  its  mind  filled  with  the 
struggle  for  existence  but  the  church  in  her 
weakness  says,  "Blessed  are  ye  poor,  yours  is 
the  Kingdom.' ' 

The  dominant  activity  of  the  modern  Chris- 
tian church  has  been  social.  This  is  particu- 
larly true  of  Protestantism  in  Great  Britain  and 
America.  There  has  been  no  modern  interest 
in  theology  as  such;  no  new  systems  have  been 
created ;  the  only  effort  has  been*  to  simplify 
some  of  those  already  in  existence,  or  to  at- 
tempt to  harmonize  them  with  various  forms 
of  modern  knowledge.  The  great  emphasis  of 
the  church  has  been  practical.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  since  the  Vatican 
Council,  and  the  interest  of  that  church  between 
the  German  reformation  and  the  Vatican  Coun- 
cil was  largely  social  and  ethical,  as  it  has  been 
since  1870. 

Modern  social  service,  however,  has  not  al- 
288 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

ways  been  ecclesiastical,  though  it  has  been 
essentially  Christian.  The  great  leaders  in  all 
the  social  reforms  of  modern  times,  as  well  as 
the  great  philanthropists,  have  been  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  church.  The  chief  value  of  re- 
cent Christian  activity  has  been  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  men  rather  than  in  the  framing  of  in- 
stitutions. Even  the  comparatively  few  leaders 
in  social  reform  who  have  not  been  directly 
connected  with  churches  have  been  trained  in 
a  Christian  atmosphere  and  are  representatives 
of  the  Christian  spirit. 

This  must  be  true  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  because  doubt  and  negation  are  al- 
ways destructive.  The  best  they  can  do  is  to 
clear  away  ancient  errors.  It  takes  faith  in 
men  and  faith  in  God  to  believe  in  a  better 
world,  and  to  work  for  it.  There  are  certain 
fundamental  questions  that  must  always  be 
asked.  The  foremost  of  these  is:  does  the 
world  improve  by  conscious  and  cooperative 
effort,  or  does  it  improve  by  natural  and  often 
unknown  forces  operating  under  a  common  law, 
vaguely  called  evolution?  If  conscious  per- 
sonal and  collective  efforts  are  against  the  prac- 
tical interests  of  society,  the  martyr  is  not  only 
useless  but  is  also  a  fool.  Faith  in  the  work 
of  man  as  a  reformer  and  faith  in  men  as  ca- 
20  289 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

pable  of  reformation  are  fundamental  to  the  so- 
cial worker.  This  kind  of  faith  is  furnished  by 
the  Christian  religion. 

There  is  another  question  quite  as  fundamen- 
tal and  that  is:  Are  social  evils  permanent? 
Many  of  them  apparently  are  permanent. 
Their  ravages  may  be  traced  in  all  human  gen- 
erations. The  men  who  think  that  social  evils 
are  permanent,  of  course,  believe  that  they  are 
incurable.  Those  who  believe  them  incurable 
can  never  become  reformers.  The  faith  in  the 
permanence  of  ancient  wrongs  is  an  indictment 
against  all  government,  both  human  and  di- 
vine. Human  government  becomes  the  part- 
ner of  vice  and  the  bulwark  of  privilege. 
Divine  government  has  no  meaning  at  all,  and 
we  might  as  well  be  atheists  at  once.  For 
practical  purposes  an  incapable  God  is  the 
same  as  no  God.  Work  for  the  improvement 
of  society  depends  fundamentally  upon  the 
belief  that  nature  is  beneficent,  and  that  man 
is  capable.  To  say  that  nature  is  beneficent, 
put  in  the  theological  form,  is  to  declare  that 
there  is  a  good  God  efficient  to  cooperate 
with  good  men  in  making  a  better  world.  To 
declare  that  man  is  capable,  put  in  social  terms, 
is  to  assert  that  if  he  will  he  can  make  natural 
resources  yield  to  his  proposals,  and  will  build 

290 


MODERN   CHRISTIANITY 

up  political  and  economic  institutions  that  can 
secure  justice  and  provide  plenty. 

The  church  has  always  declared  that  sin 
makes  misery.  The  significant  note,  of  modern 
Christianity  is  its  discovery  that  misery  fosters 
sin.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  work  at  both 
ends  of  the  problem.  Viewed  from  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  and  the  history  of  the  church,  the 
indictment  upon  her  activity  in  our  day  is  that 
misery  has  seemed  to  good  people  more  appal- 
ling than  sin.  And  that  means  that  the  social 
problem  has  interested  the  church  more  than 
the  religious  problem. 

It  is  not  possible  to  survey  the  whole  field  of 
modern  social  movements,  but  it  is  enough  to 
show  that  the  doctrines  already  stated  are 
abundantly  illustrated  in  recent  history.  The 
state  has  a  right  to  be  judged  by  its  statesmen 
and  not  by  its  yokels ;  the  art  of  any  period  by 
its  poets,  painters,  sculptors,  artisans,  and  not 
by  its  peasants.  Every  age  becomes  specially 
conscious  in  a  limited  number  who  spread  their 
conquering  gospel  among  the  multitude  in  the 
ages  that  follow.  It  is  less  true  of  the  church 
than  of  any  other  organization  for  human  ac- 
tion. It  would  be  as  absurd  to  expect  as  it 
would  be  foolish  to  assert  that  the  church  at  all 
times  has  recognized  the  direct  applications  of 

291 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  gospel  of  Jesus.  The  burden  of  paganism 
in  the  beginning  was  too  great,  and  the  bur- 
den of  a  changing  civilization  in  the  after  gen- 
erations has  made  the  thing  quite  impossible. 
The  democracy  of  Jesus  has  furnished  the 
ideals,  and  the  training  of  the  church,  even  at 
its  worst,  has  furnished  the  social  saints  and 
heroes.  In  our  own  time  democracy  has  taken 
two  forms.  The  first  form  is  a  persistent  work- 
ing out  of  participation  in  government  by  the 
great  masses  of  the  people.  The  second  effort 
of  the  democracy  has  been  to  secure  a  correc- 
tion of  social  evils  and  a  consequent  larger  good 
in  the  every-day  life  of  the  individual. 

The  religious  movement  in  England,  called 
Methodism,  is  chiefly  regarded  by  the  casual 
readers  of  history  as  an  emotional  awakening 
in  which  popular  orators  went  up  and  down  the 
country  preparing  people  for  heaven.  John 
Wesley  (1703-1791),  however,  preached  a  social 
gospel.  His  social  gospel  was  first  directed 
against  the  evils  which  abounded.  Members  of 
his  society  were  not  allowed  to  smuggle  nor  to 
engage  in  the  slave  trade.  He  protested  against 
bribery  and  corruption  in  politics.  He  organ- 
ized relief  work  for  the  poor.  His  relief  bank 
for  the  poor,  organized  in  London,  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  benevolent  loan  fund  ever 

292 


MODERN   CHRISTIANITY 

established.  In  his  sound  doctrine  and  prac- 
tical labors,  John  Wesley,  the  Methodist,  took 
up  the  splendid  traditions  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul,  the  Koman  Catholic,  and  was  later  suc- 
ceeded by  Thomas  Chalmers,  the  Presbyterian. 
Wesley  shows  what  faith  in  human  nature  can 
do  even  where  economic  inequality  and  social 
injustice  are  everywhere  ascendant.  He  knew 
that  his  peasants  and  paupers  were  bound  to 
succeed  in  life  because  no  obstacle  could  with- 
stand the  persistent  attack  of  corporate  vir- 
tues. It  was  corporate  virtues  which  he  pro- 
posed to  organize  in  his  societies. 

Among  the  evils  that  Wesley  combated  was 
the  slave  trade.  There  was  no  slavery  in  Eng- 
land, but  there  was  an  economic  complacency 
that  permitted  commerce  to  find  here  a  source 
of  wealth.  The  great  leader  of  the  attack  upon 
the  slave  trade  was  William  Wilberforce  (1759- 
1833) ;  though  born  of  the  favored  classes,  a 
University  man,  with  everything  favorable  to  a 
career,  he  threw  himself  soul  and  fortune,  brain 
and  position,  into  the  fight  of  the  slave  trade 
which  was  finally  abolished  in  1807. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  slavery  in  America 
was  defended  by  the  church.  The  whole  his- 
tory of  the  church  had  made  it  the  intelligent 
foe  of  slavery.    In  the  Southern  states  the  ar- 

293 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

guments  that  were  used  in  defense  of  the 
"peculiar  institution ' '  were  drawn  from  the 
Old  Testament  and  not  from  the  New.  But  the 
great  leaders  in  the  anti-slavery  movement 
were  Christian  men,  and  the  great  force  in  the 
Northern  states  that  finally  compelled  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  was  the  force  of  the  Christian 
churches.  Wendell  Phillips  (1811-1884),  with  a 
political  career  possible  to  him  unsurpassed  by 
any  other  American,  sacrificed  it  in  the  anti- 
slavery  struggle.  The  Boston  merchant  could 
not  forgive  the  fiery  reformer.  Wendell  Phil- 
lips more  than  any  other  man  was  the  prophet 
of  the  anti-slavery  crusade,  and  this  is  what  he 
says:  "When  I  was  a  boy  of  fourteen  years 
of  age,  in  the  old  church  in  the  North  End,  I 
heard  Lyman  Beecher  preach  on  the  theme, 
1  You  belong  to  God/  And  I  went  home  after 
that  service,  threw  myself  on  the  floor  in  my 
room,  with  locked  doors.  I  prayed:  *0  God, 
I  belong  to  thee ;  take  what  is  thine  own.  I  ask 
this,  that  whenever  a  thing  be  wrong  it  may 
have  no  power  of  temptation  over  me;  when- 
ever a  thing  be  right  it  may  take  no  courage  to 
do  it/  From  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  so. 
Whenever  I  have  known  a  thing  to  be  wrong, 
it  has  held  no  temptation.  Whenever  I  have 
known  a  thing  to  be  right,  it  has  taken  no  cour- 

294 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

age  to  do  it."  And  the  name  of  Lyman 
Beecher  calls  to  mind  some  other  of  the 
greatest  leaders  in  that  struggle  that  ended  in 
the  emancipation  proclamation  of  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

The  prisons  of  England  were  no  worse  than 
those  of  other  European  countries,  but  they 
were  bad  enough.  So  bad  that  typhus  fever, 
promiscuity  of  the  sexes,  starvation  or  rob- 
bery were  everywhere  present.  John  Howard 
(1726-1790)  was  the  man  who  spent  his  life  in 
agitating  a  reform  which  was  a  direct  commen- 
tary upon  the  words  "I  was  sick  and  in  prison 
and  ye  visited  me. ' '  The  movement  for  prison 
reform  which  he  began  has  been  carried  for- 
ward, not  only  to  the  point  of  cleanliness  and 
order  in  prisons,  but  into  an  entire  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  whole  theory  of  penology.  The  code 
of  Moses  has  gone  down  before  the  faith  of 
Jesus,  and  the  first  object  of  prison  discipline 
is  not  social  reprisal,  but  the  reformation  of 
the  offender.  John  Howard  not  only  visited  the 
prisons  of  England,  but  those  of  Europe.  In 
1729  he  went  to  Russia  to  visit  the  prisons  and 
in  the  military  hospital  he  was  attacked  by 
camp  fever  and  died.  He  was  a  Christian  mar- 
tyr, not  after  the  foolish  fashion  of  dying  for 
an  opinion  or  a  creed,  but  one  who  died  as  a 

295 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

teacher  and  soldier  in  the  holy  war  to  make  a 
better  world. 

No  better  illustration  of  actual  leadership  in 
the  church,  full  at  the  same  time  of  prophecy 
for  the  future,  can  be  suggested  than  the  name 
of  Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875).  He  was  by 
no  means  a  man  of  the  first  rank  intellectually, 
although  he  was  a  scholastic  leader  at  Cam- 
bridge. It  was  rather  his  spiritual  alertness 
and  his  social  sympathy  that  gave  him  his  char- 
acteristic place.  He  delights  in  the  rugged 
Thomas  Carlyle,  and  calls  him,  "that  old  He- 
brew prophet  who  goes  to  prince  and  beggar 
and  says,  'If  you  do  this  or  that,  you  shall  go 
to  hell.'  "  As  a  country  curate  he  learned  to 
understand  the  rough  agricultural  and  unedu- 
cated peasantry  of  England.  He  mixed  with 
their  life,  and  illustrated  the  phrase,  "muscular 
Christianity. ' '  He  did  not  see  the  reason  of  the 
rural  depression  in  England,  growing  out  of 
the  industrial  revolution,  but  in  "Yeast"  he 
gave  a  picture  of  agricultural  conditions  in 
England,  vivid  of  poverty  and  degradation. 
Later  when  he  came  to  know  London,  he  wrote 
"Alton  Locke,' '  an  appeal  for  the  reform  of 
the  city,  full  of  turbulent  thinking  and  wild  ap- 
pealing, and  yet  coming  to  the  same  conclu- 
sion, "No  more  of  any  system,  good  or  bad,  but 

296 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

more  of  the  spirit  of  God  can  regenerate  the 
world." 

The  chartist  agitation  was  on,  in  which  Car- 
lyle  and  plenty  of  others  had  little  hope,  and 
yet  the  new  charter  had  for  its  chief  demands : 
1 — Annual  parliaments,  2 — Vote  by  ballot,  3 — 
Universal  suffrage,  4 — No  property  qualifica- 
tion for  parliament,  5 — Payment  of  members  of 
parliament,  6 — Equalization  of  electoral  dis- 
tricts. The  proposals  were  moderate  enough, 
but  they  were  associated  with  industrial  dis- 
tress. Mobs  and  uprisings  and  the  great  pro- 
cession intending  to  present  the  monster  peti- 
tion melted  away  before  the  military  precau- 
tions. Kingsley's  view  of  this  and  other  politi- 
cal agitations  he  briefly  sums  up:  "God  will 
only  reform  society  on  condition  of  our  reform- 
ing every  man  his  own  self.  While  the  devil  is 
quite  ready  to  help  us  mend  the  laws  and  the 
parliament,  earth  and  heaven,  without  ever 
starting  such  an  impertinent  and  personal  ques- 
tion as  that  of,  man  should  mend  himself.,,  Yet 
Kingsley,  perhaps  even  more  than  F.  D.  Mau- 
rice, was  the  leader  of  the  movement  known  as 
Christian  socialism.  It  was  as  long  ago  as  1851 
that  he  preached  in  London  his  sermon  on  the 
"Message  of  the  church  to  the  working  man." 
The  storm  broke  because  of  its  revolutionary 

297 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

character.  He  was  forbidden  by  the  Bishop  to 
preach  in  London  and  left  for  the  Continent, 
broken  in  health  and  spirit.  It  was  then  he 
wrote  l  i  Hypatia  "asa  rest  to  the  tumult  of  his 
soul.  A  strange  man  was  he,  filled  with  a  sense 
of  the  Greek  beauty  and  an  ardent  lover  of 
nature,  so  that  it  is  possible  that  with  him,  as 
with  many  another  man,  the  impulse  to  reform 
is  not  purely  humanitarian,  but  partly  because 
social  and  moral  ugliness  are  an  offence  to  the 
aesthetic  sense.  He  came  to  see  that  a  positive 
reform  program  is  necessary  and  among  the 
problems  in  which  he  worked  were  the  better 
housing  of  the  poor,  sanitary  reform,  and  the 
promotion  of  industrial  cooperation.  He  re- 
garded the  ills  of  the  people  as  social  sins.  He 
declined  to  believe  that  what  was  wanted  in 
an  epidemic  of  cholera  was  special  prayer,  but 
he  thought  there  should  be  a  better  water  sup- 
ply, and  the  people  should  not  be  permitted  to 
drink  water  out  of  the  common  sewers.  He 
proposed  to  buy  up  the  nests  of  fever  and 
plague  and  clean  them  out.  It  was  not  in  what 
he  directly  accomplished  that  Kingsley  was 
significant,  but  it  was  that  his  literary  gift  lent 
itself  to  the  social  cause  and  he  became  the 
foremost  in  influence  of  that  school  of  literary 
men,  among  whom  were  Victor  Hugo,  Charles 

298 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

Dickens,  Walter  Besant,  and  many  others  who 
preached  the  gospel,  not  in  terms  of  theology, 
but,  after  the  manner  of  their  Master,  in  para- 
bles of  life,  so  vivid  and  intense  that  men  were 
stirred  because  they  understood. 

The  statesman  of  English  social  reform, 
whose  labors  have  had  results  throughout  civi- 
lization, was  the  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 
(1801-1885).  It  was  he  who  saw  the  degrada- 
tion that  had  come  upon  all  England  where 
household  industries  had  been  carried  into  fac- 
tories and  where  agricultural  laborers  had  been 
compelled  to  move  to  the  cities.  "We  can  hardly 
read  the  story  of  the  struggle  for  a  ten-hour 
day  without  instruction  as  to  the  reasons  why 
many  reforms  have  moved  slowly.  So  great 
and  good  a  man  as  John  Bright  looked  through 
the  spectacles  of  the  manufacturing  class  and 
could  not  see  the  needs  and  rights  of  his  people. 
John  Bright  was  not  only  a  great  orator,  but 
a  sincere  Christian  and  an  essential  democrat. 
He  illustrates  as  well  as  any  other  man  the 
necessary  obstacles  which  must  be  encountered 
in  converting  ideals  into  working  institutions. 
If  good  men  are  slow,  and  bad  and  selfish  men 
are  eager  antagonists,  the  victorious  leader- 
ship does  not  rest  upon  the  skill  and  ability  of 
the  leaders  alone,  but  on  their  fidelity  to  an 

299 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

essential  force  in  human  history  which  became 
vocal  in  Jesus  and  organic  in  his  church. 

The  labors  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and 
the  great  results  he  secured,  mark  him  as  the 
most  important,  practical  man  of  his  time  in 
manifesting  the  social  spirit  of  Christianity. 
The  Ten  Hours  bill  was  carried  in  1847;  but 
that  was  not  enough.  The  swift  fingers  of 
women  and  children  were  useful  and  cheap  in 
managing  the  new  machinery.  Sanitary  condi- 
tions were  wholly  neglected  and  the  integrity 
and  health  of  the  English  people  were  threat- 
ened. In  1874  the  Factory  Act  for  hours,  sani- 
tation and  child  labor  was  passed.  Shaftesbury 
also  secured  legislation  to  make  the  life  of  coal 
miners  more  secure  and  their  labor  less  ardu- 
ous. But  it  was  not  alone  in  legislation  that  he 
saw  the  necessary  conditions  for  a  new  and 
better  world.  He  founded  what  was  known  as 
the  ' '  Ragged  School  Union, ' '  having  for  its  ob- 
ject the  teaching  of  the  children  of  the  poor 
and  furnishing  a  good  cause  with  a  very  bad 
name.  He  established  reformatories  and  ref- 
uges for  prisoners.  He  knew  that  the  labor- 
ing people  needed  not  alone  the  help  of  legis- 
lation, but  needed  the  uplift  of  social  organiza- 
tion and  of  education.  He  interested  himself, 
therefore,  in  institutes  for  working  men  and  in 

300 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

the  education  of  the  working  classes.  He  was 
the  rallying  point  for  a  great  circle  of  earnest 
men  and  women  who  felt  a  new  seriousness  in 
life,  and  who  recognized  almost  for  the  first 
time  that  the  best  proof  of  salvation  in  any 
other  world  is  a  vigorous  effort  to  redeem  the 
homes  and  activities  of  men  and  women  in  this 
world. 

Shaftesbury  was  without  any  question  more 
influential  because  he  was  a  belted  Earl  than 
he  could  have  been  otherwise,  but  he  was  a 
social  democrat  in  the  best  sense  only  because 
he  was  a  Christian.  He  recognized  other  obli- 
gations besides  those  that  have  been  mentioned, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  one  of  the 
most  active  promoters  of  foreign  missions. 

These  are  illustrative  heroes,  who  through 
faith  have  forsaken  the  Egypt  of  the  visible  to 
seek  the  Promised  Land  of  the  better  life  for 
the  common  man.  They  believed  so  intensely 
in  the  good  life  that  wherever  they  have  lived 
they  have  always  desired  a  better  country,  and 
the  reforms  and  the  causes  which  they  repre- 
sent, named  here,  are  only  illustrations  of  the 
great  cloud  of  witnesses  that  compass  us  about 
out  of  the  last  three  generations,  and  who  have 
wrought  against  every  social  evil  and  for  every. 

301 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

common  good,  until  the  promise  of  the  new  life 
is  already  seen  in  greater  opportunities,  more 
abundant  comforts,  the  shortening  of  labor,  the 
lengthening  of  pleasure,  the  deepening  of  cul- 
ture, and  the  broad  expansion  of  the  common 
weal. 

The  social  spirit  of  Christianity  has  gone  far 
beyond  the  direct  and  quiet  activities  of  the 
church.  It  has  provided  parks  and  playgrounds, 
libraries  and  reading  rooms,  laws  for  public 
health,  wiser  as  well  as  more  abundant  chari- 
ties ;  and  the  great  army  of  social  workers  have 
been  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  church.  The 
money  that  has  carried  on  the  campaign  has 
nearly  all  come  from  active  members  of  the 
church.  But  most  of  all  and  deepest  of  all  the 
great  ideals  of  Jesus  have  inspired  their  souls, 
and  His  great  commandments  have  compelled 
their  lives. 

There  still  remain  many  battles  to  be 
fought,  but  he  is  blind  to  the  lesson  of  our 
time  who  does  not  see  that  the  social  spirit 
is  the  soul  of  modern  life,  and  that  every- 
where the  note  of  sympathy  is  the  note  of 
power. 

There  are  movements  outside  of  the  church 
in  the  interest  of  a  larger  democracy  that  have 
to  be  reckoned  with,  and  one  that  is  very  char- 

302 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

acteristic  is  connected  with  the  name  of  Giu- 
seppe Mazzini  (1805-1872).  Mazzini  was  the 
prophet  of  the  revolutionary  movements  of  1848 
which  spread  throughout  all  of  Europe,  and 
which  for  the  most  part  seemed  to  fail,  while 
in  reality  they  succeeded  in  changing  the  rela- 
tions of  government  to  people  in  practically 
every  country  of  Europe.  It  was  a  rebirth  of 
the  French  Eevolution  in  a  new  form.  It  was 
less  dramatic,  but  it  was  more  widespread. 
There  was  less  blood  and  more  intelligence. 
The  new  international  spirit  was  awakened,  and 
men  began  to  see  that  political  boundaries  did 
not  separate  human  needs.  Mazzini,  a  young 
student  at  the  University  of  Genoa,  felt  the 
throbbing  of  this  new  life.  He  early  formed  a 
group  of  students  who  shared  his  view.  He* 
assisted  in  extending  secret  societies  of  revolu- 
tionaries. He  turns  from  his  early  associates 
because  there  stirs  in  him  the  soul  of  a  deeper 
revolt.  He  is  not  content  with  the  material- 
ism of  his  associates.  He  is  a  leader  of  men 
at  twenty-six,  the  head  of  a  party  called, 
••Young  Italy,''  and  he  visits  Switzerland  and 
France  to  extend  his  new  movement.  He  is  ex- 
pelled from  France  and  the  revolt  of  "  Young 
Italy"  is  suppressed.  In  his  absence  he  is  tried 
and  condemned  to  death,  but  his  answer  is  the 

303 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

organization  of  " Young  Europe"  in  Switzer- 
land with  headquarters  at  Geneva. 

As  early  as  1837,  by  the  joint  request  of 
European  governments,  Mazzini  was  expelled 
from  Geneva  and  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  he 
finds  a  refuge  in  the  city  of  London,  where  a 
certain  company  of  men  became  his  friends, 
and  the  center  of  the  company  was  one  Thomas 
Carlyle,  who  denounced  all  democracies,  but 
who  loved  all  democrats. 

The  vital  thing  about  Mazzini  was  his  union 
of  idealism  with  politics.  He  seemed  to  have 
little  interest  in  social  questions  as  ordinarily 
understood,  nor  did  he  believe  that  the  gospel 
of  political  freedom,  as  it  had  been  preached  by 
the  men  of  the  revolution  in  France,  as  well 
as  by  Franklin  and  Jefferson  in  America,  was 
final.  As  a  matter  of  course  all  questions, 
political  and  economic,  must  be  considered, 
but  they  were  not  fundamental.  He  found  lib- 
erty itself  was  only  a  negative  condition  and 
the  positive  good  was  not  the  free  individual 
but  fellowship  among  all  men.  Hence  the  real 
aim  of  human  life  is  to  realize  the  Godlike  in 
man  under  a  human  law  in  a  progressive  spirit- 
ual commonwealth.  It  was  a  vast  dream  he  had 
and  strangely  like  a  new  incarnation  of  the  Gal- 
ilean dream  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

304 


MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

He  always  insisted  that  his  movement  was  a 
religious  one.  Though  he  felt  himself  a  citizen 
of  the  world  he  was  intensely  an  Italian.  He 
declared  that  the  mission  of  Italy  was  one  of 
leadership.  At  the  beginning  it  had  sent  forth 
the  word  that  recreated  the  pagan  world;  then 
the  word  of  the  Eenaissance  that  developed 
modern  life;  and  now  it  must  send  forth  the 
third  saving  word  of  religious  regeneration.  In 
substance  this  is  his  creed : 

1. — Politics  accepts  a  man  as  he  is;  religion 
seeks  to  transform  him.  2. — Eight  is  the  faith 
of  the  individual;  duty  the  collective  faith. 
3. — We  believe  in  one  God.  4. — We  believe  in 
one  law,  physical  and  moral.  5. — We  believe 
in  the  progressive  development  of  man.  6. — 
We  believe  in  humanity,  the  collective  being,  r 
7. — We  believe  in  active  association,  expressive 
of  faith  in  one  God,  one  law,  one  humanity. 

For  Italy  he  proposed  a  republic  under  law, 
in  which  there  should  be  a  free  state  and  a 
free  church.  In  1846  Pius  IX  ascended  the 
papal  throne.  These  two  men  stand  over 
against  each  other.  Pius  IX  began  his  career 
with  liberal  promises.  He  evidently  aimed  at 
a  union  of  the  Italian  states  under  papal  su- 
premacy. Eome  became  a  municipality.  The 
papal  states  were  granted  a  constitution  and 
21  305 


DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

the  United  Italy  which  had  been  compelled  by 
the  iron  hand  of  Napoleon  seemed  about  to  re- 
appear, under  the  gloved  hand  of  a  great  pope. 
But  1848  came,  more  concessions  were  de- 
manded by  the  people,  and  the  new  pope  fled 
from  the  city.  The  greatest  opportunity  in  his- 
tory for  the  Roman  Catholic  church  was  lost 
when  Pius  IX  revoked  his  liberal  concessions. 
For  had  he  joined  himself  to  the  republican 
movement  the  papal  throne  would  have  by  that 
one  act  won  an  immortality  for  at  least  a 
thousand  years.  Instead  of  the  republic  there 
came  the  French  occupation,  Mazzini  is  re- 
placed by  Cavour,  and  the  republic  by  Victor 
Emmanuel.  It  is  one  of  those  pathetic  reversals 
in  human  history,  that  a  reign  which  began  with 
a  reformation  should  complete  itself  with  the 
Vatican  Council,  and  whose  decrees  were  pro- 
mulgated at  the  same  time  that  the  unity  of 
Italy  was  proclaimed. 

The  thing  that  makes  Mazzini  and  his  cause 
significant  is  that  it  opposes  deeply  the  crude 
individualism  of  a  certain  form  of  democracy, 
which  is  nothing  less  than  another  kind  of  an- 
archy. He  knew  that  the  theory  of  human 
rights  is  the  creed  of  revolution.  He  recognized 
that  sacrifice  must  be  the  basis  of  great  move- 
ments, and  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  the 

306 


MODERN   CHRISTIANITY 

common  collective  faith  in  duty  when  the  in- 
terests even  of  the  multitude  became  control- 
ling. On  the  other  hand  he  declares  "the  Christ 
came  and  only  asked  a  cross  whereon  to  die  in 
order  to  save  the  world."  This  deeper  philos- 
ophy of  faith  is  the  source  of  the  modern  move- 
ment for  social  uplift.  It  is  this  that  has  sent 
Father  Damien  to  live  among  the  lepers,  and 
Arnold  Toynbee  to  burn  out  his  life  in  East 
London.  It  is  this  that  sends  men  and  women 
of  wealth  and  pleasure  down  to  live  in  the 
slums  to  fight  the  social  tigers  who  are  living 
upon  the  life  blood  of  women  and  children.  The 
form  of  the  modern  creeds  may  vary  and  Chris- 
tian activity  may  not  care  so  much  for  its  rit- 
ual or  its  architecture  as  hitherto,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  pulsing  with  the  divine  life  and 
performing  a  regenerating  work.  And  since  in 
all  times  men  have  never  lived  above  their 
creed,  and  have  never  acted  beyond  the  vital 
forces  within ;  so  at  last  the  splendid  social  im- 
pulse will  need  to  refresh  itself  at  the  divine 
fountains  and  in  some  form  or  other  there 
must  be  a  saving  sacrament  to  prepare  men 
and  women  for  the  further  toil  and  struggle 
that  intervene  before  the  race  inherits  the  final 
glory  of  a  new  life. 

The  criticism  of  the  church  in  our  time  is  not 
307 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

that  it  has  forgotten  the  social  spirit  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  it  is  rather  that  it  is  in  need 
of  that  source  of  wonder  and  awe,  parent  also 
of  compassion  for  men,  found  in  the  experi- 
ence, "I  and  my  Father  are  One." 


CHAPTEE  X 

THE  DEMOCRACY   OF  TO-MORROW 

Dean  Swift  never  meant  "Gulliver's 
Travels"  to  be  regarded  as  a  Baedeker.  Re- 
flections on  life,  either  individual  or  social, 
thrown  into  a  form  of  fancy,  must  not  be  taken 
too  seriously.  Lord  Macaulay  in  his  essay, 
"Plato  and  Bacon,' '  seems  to  me  to  miss  the 
humor  of  the  situation  when  he  says,  ' '  An  acre 
in  Middlesex  is  better  than  a  principality  in 
Utopia."  I  have  no  idea  that  Sir  Thomas 
More  ever  meant  to  make  his  blessed  island 
a  permanent  and  literal  joy  in  prose,  and  at 
any  rate  the  joys  of  one  generation  are  often 
the  despair  of  the  next.  For  example,  read 
this:  "It  is  ordinary  to  have  public  lectures 
every  morning  before  daybreak  at  which  none 
are  obliged  to  appear  but  those  who  are 
marked  out  for  literature.  Yet  a  great  many, 
both  men  and  women,  of  all  ranks  came  to  hear 
lectures  of  one  sort  or  other,  according  to  their 
inclination."    It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  make 

309 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

even  a  comment  in  onr  time  npon  a  habit  like 
that.  Then  think  of  this:  "Throughout  the 
island  they  wear  the  same  sort  of  clothes  with- 
out any  other  distinction  except  what  is  neces- 
sary to  distinguish  the  two  sexes.' '  With  lec- 
tures at  daybreak  and  no  milliners,  an  acre 
almost  anywhere  would  be  better  than  the 
whole  of  Utopia.  It  is  not,  therefore,  in  the  de- 
lightful vagaries  of  literary  creation  that  we 
are  to  look  for  the  life  and  wisdom  that  belong 
to  a  new  world.  It  is  rather  by  the  interplay 
of  deep  and  vital  forces  in  the  actual  strug- 
gles of  human  history  where  by  a  selective  proc- 
ess, human  and  divine,  the  good  is  saved  and 
the  bad  is  thrown  away,  generation  by  genera- 
tion. 

The  essence  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  de- 
mocracy for  a  long  time  was  purely  political. 
/  It  means  the  participation  of  the  whole  body  of 
citizens  in  the  affairs  of  state,  and  the  more 
equal  was  the  participation  of  citizens  the  more 
nearly  the  form  of  government  approached  a 
pure  democracy.  Such  a  state  has  not  yet  ex- 
isted except  in  comparatively  small  communi- 
ties, and  in  such  communities  the  most 
of  the  people  have  been  excluded  from 
the  ranks  of  the  citizens,  as  was  the  case 
in  pagan  Athens,  and  in  Christian  Geneva.  The 

310 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

evolution  of  the  state  has  taken  many  forms 
which  cannot  here  be  traced,  but  for  a  state  to 
have  size  and  power  it  has  been  necessary  for 
the  government  to  become  complex.  The  sav- 
age tribe  may  have  a  form  of  democracy  when 
there  is  no  property  and  no  danger,  but  when 
a  people  have  enough  resources  to  stir  the 
envy  of  greedy  neighbors,  and  when  the  num- 
bers become  large,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
powers  of  the  state  to  be  distributed.  The  bar- 
baric chief  who  had  assumed  practically  all  the 
functions  of  government  gave  way  to  the  civil- 
ized ruler  who  delegates  his  authority  to  priest 
and  soldier,  to  judge  and  law-makers.  The 
great  change  that  has  come  over  the  world  can 
be  illustrated  by  comparing  the  action  of  Jus- 
tinian, who  appointed  a  commission  to  make 
a  Eoman  code  to  which  his  will  gave  authority, 
with  the  modern  law-making  assembly  which 
represents  not  the  throne  but  the  people,  and  to 
which  the  throne  itself  is  compelled  to  bow. 
The  division  of  the  power  of  the  state  into 
three  parts,  the  executive,  the  legislative,  and 
the  judiciary,  in  some  way  or  other  becomes 
typical  of  the  modern  state. 

In'  England  the  extension  of  suffrage  has 
been  paralleled  by  the  growth  of  the  power  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  which  by  recent  events 

311 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

has  become  the  dictator  of  the  English  govern- 
ment. In  the  United  States  the  question  of 
equal  suffrage  for  all  men  was  long  ago  set- 
tled. But  here  the  judicial  authority  with  the 
aid  of  the  constitution  is  perhaps  greater  than 
in  any  other  country.  Movements  are  now  in 
progress  to  imitate  in  America  the  public  as- 
sembly of  Athens,  and  the  democratic  authority 
in  Switzerland,  through  what  are  known  as  the 
Initiative  and  Eeferendum.  No  country  has 
ever  faced  such  difficulties  of  democracy  as 
those  which  front  the  United  States.  In  its 
population,  made  up  of  a  complex  of  alien  races, 
of  diverse  forms  of  culture,  faiths  and  tradi- 
tions, there  is  wanting  that  coherent  social 
mind  which  is  always  supreme  over  merely  for- 
mal institutions.  In  spite  of  all  the  problems 
and  all  the  failures,  it  has  only  been  within  the 
last  twenty  years  that  there  has  been  any  ques- 
tion among  the  masses  of  Americans  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  a  democratic  form  of  government. 
Every  kind  of  prosperity  which  America  had 
because  it  was  young  and  the  country  sparsely 
settled,  and  every  form  of  evil  that  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe  supplied  because  it  was  old  and 
thickly  settled,  were  charged  to  the  account  of 
the  form  of  the  state. 

It  has  been  discovered  that  the  form  of  de- 
312 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

mocracy  is  not  sufficient  to  solve  human  prob- 
lems. In  spite  of  manhood  suffrage,  canal 
boys  and  tailors  becoming  president,  with  op- 
portunity for  political  honor  avowedly  open  to 
all,  much  remains  to  be  done.  One  school  of 
thinkers  are  willing  to  assert  that  the  state 
should  not  attempt  too  much.  Plato  in  the 
Laws  taught  that  it  was  the  object  of  the  state 
to  make  its  people  virtuous.  A  modern  re- 
former is  sure  that  it  is  the  end  of  the  state  to 
make  the  people  comfortable. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  state  has 
assumed  an  authority  broader  than  ever  before, 
and  has  assumed  duties  unknown  to  the  politi- 
cal institutions  of  the  past.  With  the  growing 
power  of  the  state,  and  with  the  multiplication 
of  its  activities,  there  has  come  also  an  increas- 
ing volume  of  discontent.  The  state,  say  the 
critics,  should  be  more  and  should  do  more.  It 
is  not  enough  for  the  state  to  maintain  the 
Marquis  of  Queensbury  rules  and  insist  upon 
fair  play  in  that  social  and  economical  encoun- 
ter which  we  call  the  struggle  for  existence. 
An  impoverished  state  is  an  unworthy  state. 
It  must  protect  the  weak  and  care  for  the  poor. 
If  a  man  is  starving,  a  loaf  of  bread  is  better 
than  a  vote.  In  the  United  States  there  is  a 
widespread  feeling  that  votes  are  manipulated 

313 


DEMOCRACY    AND    THE    CHURCH 

by  experience  and  cunning,  that  legislation  is 
often  in  the  interest  of  the  rich  and  the  strong, 
that  justice  is  sometimes  too  slow  and  too  ex- 
pensive for  the  use  of  the  poor,  and  that  the 
ballot  under  the  present  forms  of  government 
is  not  of  very  great  value. 

To  add  to  the  criticism  bred  by  party  organi- 
zation and  control,  comes  another  criticism  with 
respect  to  the  people  themselves.  If  the  elec- 
tion is  close  in  any  particular  state,  the  result 
will  depend  upon  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
used — for  there  is  everywhere  a  purchasable 
vote.  That  a  man  should  be  willing  to  sell  his 
choice  of  public  servants  and  public  policies  for 
a  few  dollars,  if  we  knew  no  more  of  human 
life  and  its  forces,  seems  an  echo  of  the  burial 
service  over  the  grave  of  the  Republic. 

The  evolution  of  political  democracy  was  an 
exceedingly  slow  and  painful  process.  It  is  now 
practically  completed  in  most  civilized  countries 
whatever  may  be  the  nominal  form  of  govern- 
ment. From  the  days  of  the  pre-revolutionary 
writers  in  France,  for  fully  one  hundred  years, 
it  was  believed  to  be  the  final  end  of  organized 
society.  At  the  very  moment  when  its  success 
is  greatest  and  most  widespread  there  comes 
a  universal  skepticism  of  its  efficiency.  It  is 
curious  also  that  the  skepticism  is  equally  as 

314 


THE    DEMOCRACY   OF    TO-MORROW 

general  and  as  paralyzing  among  the  masses 
of  men  whom  democracy  was  supposed  to  serve 
as  among  any  other  rank  of  society. 

The  skepticism  is  here,  but  somehow  it  is  not 
in  respect  to  democracy  itself,  for  that  is  felt 
to  be  a  term  of  far  wider  meaning  than  had 
been  supposed,  and  men  are  asking  for  some 
new  expression  that  will  make  it  more  efficient 
in  human  society.  If  free  ballots  and  free  par- 
liaments are  not  enough  to  secure  the  good  of 
life,  and  if  the  state,  as  now  organized,  fails 
to  provide  the  needed  good,  and  suppress  the 
dreaded  evils,  some  new  measure  must  be  taken 
and  some  new  form  of  organization  must  be 
found.  Pending  the  search  for  a  new  interpre- 
tation of  democracy,  there  is  no  serious  pro- 
posal to  give  up  the  political  liberty  now  en- 
joyed by  the  common  man.  There  is  plenty  of 
defense  for  manhood  suffrage,  Bills  of  Eights, 
free  constitutions  and  free  assemblies :  but  even 
now  there  is  a  clamor  in  almost  every  country 
for  more  democracy.  Sometimes  it  is  Votes 
for  Women,  sometimes  direct  legislation,  some- 
times the  popular  veto  and  sometimes  the  pub- 
lic censorship  of  the  decisions  of  the  courts. 
Beneath  all  the  clamor  there  is  a  feeling  that 
more  democracy  is  only  a  means  to  an  end. 
There  is  a  purpose  quite  blind,  if  not  wholly 

315 


DEMOCRACY  AND    THE    CHURCH 

dumb,  to  compel  the  state  to  sail  uncharted  seas; 
and  to  become  the  heroic  instrument  of  human 
salvation  from  every  evil  that  afflicts,  and 
from  every  peril  that  threatens.  Political  de- 
mocracy has  done  much,  but  it  has  not  done 
well  enough,  and  many  voices  are  heard  to  say 
that  the  only  cure  for  what  failures  there  are 
is  still  more  democracy. 

Many  men  who  turn  their  backs  upon  poliii- 
f>  \  cal  democracy  as  a  worn-out  achievement  turn 
their  faces  toward  what  they  call  industrial 
democracy  as  the  final  solution  of  human  ills. 
The  doctrine  of  industrial  democracy  depends 
in  the  last  analysis  upon  what  is  known  as  the 
economic  interpretation  of  history.  Eaces  have 
grown  great  because  of  favorable  soil  and  cli- 
mate and  abundance  of  natural  resources. 
Malthus  is  so  far  right  that  it  seems  to  be  con- 
ceded that  population  expands  to  the  limit  of 
the  food  supply.  Numbers  of  authorities  teach 
us  that  the  kind  of  people  in  any  country  de- 
pends upon  the  kind  of  food  they  have  to  eat, 
and  particularly  was  all  this  true  before  com- 
merce made  all  things  common  between  the 
nations. 

Slavery  came  into  existence  to  meet  an  agri- 
^  cultural  need  and  is  bound  to  vanish  when  slav- 
ery is  no  longer  profitable.    Slavery,  however, 

316 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

is  a  mitigation  of  human  misery,  because  the 
property  instinct  makes  the  brute  man  more 
careful  of  his  chattel  than  he  is  merciful  to  the 
perishing  beggar. 

Serfdom  differs  from  slavery  in  that  there 
are  certain  services  which  the  man  must  per- 
form for  his  master,  and  after  that  he  is  free. 
There  are  certain  duties  which  he  owes,  but  the 
law  fixes  bounds  to  the  power  of  his  lord.  Serf- 
dom was  a  protection  to  the  weak  man  quite  as 
much  as  to  the  master  who  controlled  him.  If 
the  master  had  a  right  to  his  services,  he  had 
a  right  to  the  soil  upon  which  he  lived,  and  the 
code  of  Justinian  protects  the  serf  in  his  per- 
sonal rights,  and  also  in  his  rights  to  the  land. 
An  effort  was  made  in  various  countries  to 
limit  the  amount  of  tax  which  could  be  levied 
upon  the  serf,  and  also  to  deny  to  the  land- 
owner the  right  of  eviction.  During  the  feudal 
system  it  was  worth  while  to  be  the  serf  of 
some  powerful  noble,  because  in  that  way  there 
was  security  of  food  and  of  life.  With  the  de- 
cay of  the  feudal  system  there  arose  free  ten- 
ants, and  afterwards  ownership  of  land  by 
peasants.  The  thing  has  followed  different 
courses  in  different  countries.  But  as  society 
has  changed  its  form,  it  has  altered  the  nature 
and  order  of  human  rights. 

317 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

As  modern  life  tended  to  set  free  the  agricul- 
tural laborer,  on  the  other  hand  it  furnished 
new  bounds  for  the  artisan.  Work  by  hand 
could  not  compete  with  work  by  the  machine. 
The  household  spinning  wheel  was  sent  to  the 
attic  and  the  household  loom  was  dumb.  With 
the  advent  of  the  machine,  the  whole  nature  of 
industry  was  changed.  The  free  cities,  because 
of  their  wealth-breeding  power,  have  won  for 
the  artisan  relief  from  feudalism ;  but  there  was 
a  new  feudalism  born  out  of  the  union  of  capi- 
tal and  skill.  The  master  of  the  machine  and  of 
money  knew  what  to  do.  This  new  feudalism 
has  continued  practically  unbroken  for  a  hun- 
dred years.  Along  with  the  new  baronage, 
which  too  often  has  known  no  chivalry,  has 
gone  the  tenement  house  landlord,  and  combin- 
ing with  those  who  control  the  means  of  trans- 
portation by  land  and  water  has  risen  a  great 
and  successful  power,  in  whose  presence  such 
phrases  as  "  Equality  before  the  law,"  "Justice 
for  all,"  "The  rights  of  man"  are  like  sound- 
ing brass  and  clanging  cymbals. 

Christian  philanthropy  for  at  least  sixty 
years  has  been  adding  new  laws  to  the  statute 
books,  which  have  defined  new  crimes  and  pro- 
duced new  penalties.  They  have  also  fur- 
nished new  protection  for  those  who  were  too 

318 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

weak  to  help  themselves.  It  has  been  a  splen- 
did and  heroic  struggle  against  visible  evils, 
but  men  and  women  who  are  in  the  midst  of  the 
fight  feel  that,  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done, 
the  roots  of  the  evil  still  sink  deep  into  the 
earth,  and  the  branches  of  it  shut  out  the  sun. 

The  effort  of  industrial  democracy,  there- 
fore, is  to  destroy  by  some  means  or  other  the 
new  feudalism.  Many  remedies  have  been  sug- 
gested and  more  plans  have  been  proposed  than 
can  be  here  detailed. 

The  first  effort  of  the  industrial  democracy 
to  find  itself  came  through  combinations  of 
workmen  to  secure  larger  wages  and  better  con- 
ditions of  labor,  which  has  culminated  in  the 
trade  unions  and  other  labor  organizations  of 
our  day.  England  being  the  great  manufac- 
turing country,  it  was  natural  that  there  the 
problem  should  find  its  early  form.  Under  the 
English  common  law  all  combinations  on  the 
part  of  the  working  people  to  affect  wages  and 
conditions  were  regarded  as  illegal.  Since  the 
men  could  not  act  publicly,  the  workers  in 
shops  and  factories  formed  a  large  number  of 
secret  societies.  The  opening  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  signalized  by  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment, making  it  a  crime  for  persons  to  com- 
bine with  others  to  advance  their  wages  or  to 

319 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

decrease  the  amount  of  their  work.  After 
twenty-five  years  there  was  an  effort  by  par- 
liament to  permit  association  of  masters,  upon 
the  one  hand,  and  workmen,  upon  the  other,  to 
make  mutual  agreements.  With  much  irrita- 
tion and  friction  the  matter  went  forward  and 
it  was  not  until  1865  that  trade  unions  had  a 
legal  existence.  It  was  a  long  and  bitter  fight 
between  employers  and  the  employed. 

In  America  combinations  of  workmen  did  not 
commence  so  early,  nor  did  they  encounter  in 
the  beginning  any  such  hostility.  Since  each 
state  managed  its  own  matters,  the  national 
government  had  neither  the  temptation  nor  the 
power  to  enforce  restrictive  legislation.  The 
fight  in  England  was  practically  a  fight  for 
Trade  Unionism  in  all  other  countries.  Ger- 
many did  not  become  a  manufacturing  country 
to  any  large  extent  until  the  question  of  the 
right  of  the  men  to  combine  was  practically  set- 
tled. In  recent  years  combinations  of  employ- 
ers, more  secret  and  sometimes  more  far-reach- 
ing and  powerful  than  the  labor  unions,  have 
been  organized.  Some  of  these  have  been  very 
significant  in  the  United  States.  The  object 
of  the  trade  unions  has  been  principally  to  se- 
cure shorter  hours  and  higher  wages,  but  inci- 
dentally in   combination  with   other   agencies 

320 


THE   DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

they  have  sought  to  obtain  laws  in  favor  of  the 
liability  of  employers  for  accidents  to  work- 
men; for  improved  sanitation,  and  for  other 
benefits  to  those  engaged  in  labor. 

The  various  trades  have  differed  very  much 
in  the  concession  obtained  from  the  employ- 
ers. In  some  of  them  the  men  have  been  so 
well  organized  that  they  have  won  easy  vic- 
tories. In  others  the  masters  have  been  better 
organized  and  have  had  such  large  capital  that 
they  could  afford  to  resist  the  demands  of  the 
men.  On  the  whole  the  result  of  the  struggle 
has  been  in  favor  of  the  man  who  works  with 
his  hands.  Hours  of  labor  have  been  steadily 
reduced,  and  wages  have  been  increased.  In 
many  cases  collective  bargaining  between  the 
representatives  of  the  unions  upon  the  one  side 
and  of  the  employers  upon  the  other  has  set- 
tled details  of  labor  and  wages  for  all  the  men 
engaged  in  a  particular  craft.  The  successes 
of  skilled  labor  well  organized  have  been  at  the 
expense,  however,  of  that  larger  mass  of  labor 
in  every  country  which  is  unskilled  and  which 
cannot  be  organized.  The  higher  wages  of  the 
union  men  have  increased  the  cost  of  living  and 
the  prices  of  goods  manufactured  under  the 
new  terms.  The  unskilled  and  unorganized 
men  must  pay  more  for  their  existence  because 
22  32i 


DEMOCRACY   AND   THE   CHURCH 

of  the  successes  of  their  fortunate  brethren, 
who  are  the  aristocrats  of  the  working  classes. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  organized  labor  has 
made  many  mistakes,  has  often  been  rightly 
charged  with  violence;  so  much  so  that  many 
wise  men  regard  labor  leaders  as  enemies  of 
mankind.  Students  of  society,  whichever  way 
their  sympathies  may  be,  see  the  armed  neu- 
trality of  every-day  life,  and  the  violent  hostili- 
ties of  open  conflict  when  occasion  arises,  and 
are  profoundly  impressed  that  we  are  living  in 
a  state  of  industrial  war.  A  truce  may  be  de- 
clared for  one  or  more  years,  but  battle  may 
be  waged  at  any  time. 

No  one  feels  that  the  labor  situation  is  set- 
tled or  that  the  present  organization  is  final.  In 
some  places  opportunities  of  conciliation  or 
arbitration  with  the  right  to  advise  simply  have 
been  established  or  proposed.  Other  groups 
of  men  think  it  better  to  provide  for  compul- 
sory arbitration  in  all  labor  disputes.  This  pro- 
gram is  as  much  condemned  by  the  work- 
men as  it  is  by  the  employers.  The  value  of 
the  unions  in  the  long  struggle  for  a  living  wage 
and  larger  opportunity  cannot  be  questioned. 
But  the  domination  of  the  labor  unions  as  the 
controlling  factor  in  industrial  society  would 
set  aside  the  state,  would  spoil  the  poorest  of 

322 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF    TO-MORROW 

the  poor,  and  bring  in  industrial  chaos.  But  the 
workers  had  to  fight  the  battle  they  have 
fought,  and  the  world  could  not  have  got  along 
without  their  victories.  Were  there  no  other 
reasons,  the  fact  that  the  labor  unions  cared 
chiefly  for  their  own  interest  and  not  for  the 
interest  of  the  unorganized  and  unskilled, 
makes  it  evident  that  we  cannot  find  here  the 
solution  of  the  industrial  democracy. 

The  last  century  produced  also  Cooperation 
as  a  form  of  industrial  organization.  The  early 
efforts  were  nearly  all  failures,  but  as  time  has 
gone  on  more  and  more  fields  have  been  suc- 
cessfully invaded.  Families  have  combined  to- 
gether to  buy  their  own  food  and  clothes,  to 
eliminate  the  shopkeeper  and  to  make  incomes 
go  further  in  securing  the  comforts  of  life.  The 
procuring  of  merchandise  has  been  one  of  the 
most  successful  forms  of  cooperation.  In  a 
number  of  countries  it  has  been  applied  to  the 
marketing  of  farm  products,  and  to  a  more  lim- 
ited extent  in  manufacturing.  The  British  co- 
operators  have  organized  their  buying  upon  so 
large  a  scale  that  they  bring  whole  cargoes  of 
produce  from  foreign  countries,  and  distribute 
them  successfully  and  cheaply. 

In  manufacturing  enterprises  the  success 
has  not  been  nearly  so  considerable.    The  rea- 

323 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

son  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  competition  in  man- 
ufacturing is  very  great  and  the  success  de- 
pends upon  individual  initiative,  upon  ability 
to  buy  the  raw  material  and  sell  the  finished 
product  on  the  best  terms,  but  especially  to 
take  advantage  of  new  and  improved  methods 
in  the  production  of  the  goods.  As  a  rule,  the 
ablest  men  do  not  voluntarily  go  into  coopera- 
tion or  remain  in  it,  because  there  are  for  them 
larger  prizes  in  other  forms  of  commercial  ac- 
tivity. In  many  places  where  cooperation  has 
been  tried  it  has  been  abandoned.  But  for  lim- 
ited use,  such  as  the  marketing  of  common 
products  on  the  one  hand  or  the  purchase  of  the 
common  necessaries  of  life  upon  the  other,  it 
has  evident  advantages  and  manifest  successes. 
Cooperation  therefore  is  not  sufficient  to  se- 
cure industrial  democracy. 

Methods  of  the  trades  union  and  the  methods 
of  the  cooperators  alike  are  scorned  by  those 
who  believe  in  the  industrial  functions  of  the 
state.  The  Hebrews  believed  that  the  land  be- 
longed to  God.  The  ancient  theory  was  that 
the  final  ownership  of  the  land  was  in  all  the 
people,  organized  as  the  state.  The  Eoman 
law,  emphasizing  the  right  of  private  property, 
has  dominated  the  modern  world.  Gigantic 
combinations  of  capital  are  a  part  of  modern 

324 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

history.  The  exclusion  of  the  multitudes  from 
the  land  in  the  older  countries  by  landlords, 
whose  final  title  often  rested  in  the  gift  of 
plunderers;  and  in  younger  countries  the  pos- 
session of  mines  and  forests,  of  great  tracts 
of  land  by  government  donations  to  railroads, 
of  water  powers  obtained  by  franchise  upon 
terms  that  amount  to  common  robbery,  the  ex- 
ploitation of  municipalities  by  the  private  own- 
ership of  public  utilities,  are  part  of  the  rea- 
sons for  asserting  that  all  the  means  of  pro- 
duction of  every  kind  should  be  owned  by  the 
state,  and  should  be  available  on  equal  terms 
to  all  the  people. 

It  is  difficult  to  discuss  socialism  as  a  form 
of  industrial  democracy,  because  the  socialists 
in  most  countries  are  opportunists  with  a  lim- 
ited and  a  different  program.  "In  the  house 
of  socialism  as  in  the  house  of  God  there  are 
many  mansions."1  No  authoritative  creed  of 
final  socialism  has  ever  been  written,  and  no 
master  of  economic  theory  is  recognized  as  the 
author  of  any  working  plan  by  which  socialism 
can  be  applied  to  carrying  on  the  opera- 
tions of  production  and  distribution.  The  so- 
cialist promises  relief  from  all  social  and  in- 
dustrial ills  in  the  new  system  which  will  be 

1H.  G.  Wells,  "New  Worlds  for  Old,"  p.  328. 

325 


-) 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

introduced  whenever  the  new  system  is  agreed 
upon.  Meantime  this  is  a  little  vague  for  prac- 
tical men.  The  strength  of  socialism  lies  in 
the  fact  that  there  are  real  evils  to  be  com- 
bated, and  that  some  men  are  disgracefully 
rich  and  others  are  disgracefully  poor. 

It  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  reorganize 
society  and  hunt  down  the  inequalities  of  for- 
tune to  ancient  sources  and  redress  hoary 
wrongs. 

A  new  and  increasing  school  of  practical 
statesmen  are  of  the  opinion  that  greater  equal- 
ity of  fortune  and  of  opportunity  can  be  se- 
cured through  new  methods  of  taxation.  Sam- 
ples of  the  proposed  plans  are  the  single  land 
tax,  inheritance  taxes  increasing  in  size  as  the 
fortune  increases,  a  graduated  income  tax  that 
would  leave  moderate  incomes  free  and  severely 
penalize  those  that  are  very  large.  Some  of 
these  methods  with  more  or  less  caution  are 
being  employed  in  different  countries. 

The  argument  against  industrial  democracy 
is  much  more  persistent  than  that  against  polit- 
ical democracy  as  the  interests  are  more  inti- 
mate. Men  say  that  initiative  depends  upon  in- 
centive. Unless  a  man  can  reap  all  the  re- 
wards of  the  struggle  of  brain  and  will,  self- 
denial  and  patience,  with  all  the  other  economic 

326 


THE   DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

virtues,  lie  will  not  cultivate  the  virtues.  It  is 
urged  that  many  of  the  richest  men  in  modern 
times  began  poor,  and  their  victories  appear 
to  some  men  as  valorous  as  those  ever  won 
upon  any  field  of  human  endeavor.  In  these 
matters  it  is  urged  that  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence is  still  the  law  of  life,  and  if  you  prevent 
the  rewards  of  the  fittest  you  will  also  pre- 
vent their  survival,  for  industrially  the  fittest 
are  the  result  of  artificial  selection. 

There  is  a  noble  passion  for  justice  voiced 
in  the  demand  for  an  industrial  democracy. 
Many  special  privileges  have  passed  away, 
others  are  sure  to  go.  In  some  form  or  other 
the  rights  of  the  multitude  are  to  receive  a 
larger  economic  recognition.  The  weakness  of 
industrial  democracy  is  not  in  its  clamor  for  a 
more  equitable  division  of  the  product  of  toil, 
but  its  fatal  weakness  is  that  it  does  not  pro- 
vide for  an  adequate  increase  in  the  product  of 
toil,  nor  does  it  provide  guarantees  that  larger 
means  distributed  among  the  people  will  be  ac- 
companied by  the  wider  knowledge  and  the 
greater  self-control  adequate  for  the  success- 
ful use  of  the  additional  income. 

All  the  various  theories  of  industrial  democ- 
racy may  be  justly  classed  with  the  summing 
up  of  Socialism  by  Mr.  Wells,  one  of  its  ablest 

327 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

exponents:  "But  Socialism  is  no  panacea, 
no  magic  'Open  Sesame'  to  the  millennium. 
Socialism  lights  up  certain  once  hopeless  evils 
in  human  affairs  and  shows  the  path  by  which 
escape  is  possible,  but  it  leaves  that  path 
rugged  and  difficult.  Socialism  is  hope,  but  it 
is  not  assurance.  Throughout  this  book  I  have 
tried  to  keep  that  before  the  reader.  Directly- 
one  accepts  those  great  generalizations,  one 
passes  on  to  a  jungle  of  incurably  intricate 
problems  through  which  man  has  to  make  his 
way  or  fail,  the  riddles  and  inconsistencies  of 
human  character,  the  puzzles  of  collective  ac- 
tion, the  power  and  decay  of  traditions,  the  per- 
petually recurring  tasks  and  problems  of  edu- 
cation. ' ' 1 

Another  form  of  democracy  which  is  making 
insistent  claim  for  recognition  in  devious  ways, 
for  want  of  a  better  term,  may  be  called  "Vital 
Democracy."  It  is  a  movement  that  has  en- 
listed both  public  and  private  forces,  and  some 
of  the  laborers  are  scarcely  aware  that  others 
are  at  work  in  the  same  vineyard.  It  includes 
at  the  one  end  the  custodial  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded and  of  the  insane,  and  at  the  other  end 
the  proposals  of  Eugenics,  sometimes  called 
a  science,  and  certainly  furnished  with  an  ex- 

1  Wells,  "New  Worlds  for  Old,"  p.  332. 
328 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

cellent  name.  Both  the  legal  custody  and  the 
public  discussion  are  useful.  It  is  not  possible 
in  this  place  to  enter  into  any  full  discussion 
of  the  theories  involved,  but  the  whole  move- 
ment may  be  briefly  sketched.  Various  voices 
are  calling  for  physical  fitness  for  parenthood. 
The  program  would  exclude  such  wards  of 
the  state  as  the  feeble-minded,  the  insane  and 
the  pauper.  In  regard  to  these  classes  there 
can  be  no  debate.  Others  would  exclude  from 
the  sacred  vocation  all  alcoholics  and  tuber- 
culous persons.  Here  we  have  a  cross-section 
of  society,  for  persons  of  these  types  are  found 
in  all  the  social  classes. 

The  question  of  maternity  among  the  hard- 
working poor  is  quite  a  different  problem. 
Many  urge  that  the  state  in  some  way  or  other 
should  see  to  it  that  every  mother  is  not  com- 
pelled to  do  hard  labor  or  be  deprived  of  nour- 
ishing food,  or  allowed  to  live  in  unwholesome 
surroundings  prior  to  the  birth  of  her  child. 
The  economic  cost  of  the  care  of  motherhood 
it  is  believed  would  be  far  more  than  compen- 
sated in  the  increased  vitality  and  earning 
power  of  the  coming  generation.  The  new  doc- 
trine is  that  the  state  owes  something  to  the 
unborn  child.  It  has  a  duty  to  see  that  the 
parents  are  physically  fit  and  that  the  conditions 

329 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

surrounding  the  coming  into  the  world  are  such 
as  to  promise  a  sound  physical  organism.  It 
is  curious  that  with  the  definite  movement  in 
favor  of  the  poor,  than  which  nothing  can  be 
more  soundly  grounded  in  social  argument, 
there  seems  to  be  no  corresponding  alarm  for 
the  well-being  of  the  children  of  the  well-to-do. 
It  is  comparatively  easy  to  furnish  mothers 
with  proper  food,  and  to  give  them  a  sufficient 
vacation  from  labor,  but  by  what  legal  meas- 
ures can  the  motherhood  of  the  better  classes 
be  safeguarded  from  all  the  social  and  per- 
sonal excesses  which  deprive  the  child  of  his 
natural  birthright  of  health  and  vitality!  The 
practical  application  of  the  rule  that  it  is  the 
business  of  the  state  to  see  that  the  child  is  well 
born  will  fail  from  top  to  bottom  among  all 
social  classes  unless  the  sacredness  of  the  obli- 
gation is  recognized  by  the  individual,  and  wis- 
dom and  love  work  together.  Among  depraved 
people  maternity  pensions  and  more  food  and 
drink  may  mean  worse  and  not  better  chil- 
dren— just  as  among  those  who  have  plenty  of 
money  the  greed  for  current  pleasure  is  an 
appetite  that  must  be  fed  even  though  it  robs 
the  vitality  of  the  unborn  child. 

It  is  probable  that  more  children  after  they 
are  born  into  the  world  suffer  from  the  igno- 

330 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF   TO-MORROW 

ranee  than  from  the  vices  of  their  parents.  The 
state  has  invaded  the  home  to  say  that  parents 
who  are  too  poor  to  care  for  their  children, 
according  to  a  proper  physical  standard,  or  too 
vicious  to  furnish  proper  moral  standards,  are 
to  be  deprived  of  the  custody  of  their  offspring. 
We  are  not  yet  prepared  to  adopt  the  doctrine 
of  Plato  that  the  state  should  care  for  the  up- 
bringing of  all  the  children,  but  society  is  seek- 
ing an  increasing  share  in  this  work  as  a  fixed 
social  obligation. 

Beside  the  care  of  the  children  of  the  poor 
and  of  the  vicious,  in  various  forms  a  far 
greater  movement  for  the  improvement  of  hu- 
man life  is  in  progress.  The  state  declares 
that  it  will  look  after  the  purity  of  foods,  see 
that  the  water  and  milk  are  clean  and  whole- 
some, and  increasingly  seeks  to  secure  sanitary 
conditions  in  the  dwellings  of  all  the  people. 
Much  has  been  already  done  with  respect  to  the 
housing  problem:  but  much  more  remains  to 
be  done;  perfect  drainage  and  sewerage,  light 
and  air  spaces,  clean  streets  and  alleys  are  only 
part  of  the  program.  It  includes  play- 
grounds for  the  children  and  parks  for  all  the 
people.  The  modern  tendency  is  for  cities  to 
break  up  their  narrow  limits  and  spread  fur- 
ther and  further  into  God's  free  light  and  air. 

331 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

Filth  diseases  must  be  banished.  Infectious 
and  contagious  diseases  of  every  kind  must  be 
held  within  the  narrowest  limits,  and  the  ac- 
tive war  upon  the  " white  plague' '  is  only  one 
vigorous  form  of  assault  upon  all  the  enemies 
of  human  bodies.  Public  health  lectures  abound 
and  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  life  is 
furnished  through  the  schools  than  ever  before. 
People  are  learning  how  to  organize  diets  to 
build  a  body,  and  to  protect  themselves  against 
the  inroads  of  disease.  The  success  of  the 
movement  for  a  vital  democracy  is  seen  in  the 
reduction  of  the  death  rate  in  nearly  all  the 
great  cities  of  the  world,  and  in  an  increase  in 
the  average  of  human  life. 

There  are  some  peculiar  difficulties  which 
stand  across  the  path  of  this  wide  social  move- 
ment. Alcoholism  precedes  and  follows  neuras- 
thenia. Even  latent  tuberculosis  in  one  gener- 
ation often  means  feeblemindedness  in  the 
next,  and  the  vices  of  the  rich  in  most  coun- 
tries are  greater  than  the  vices  of  the  poor. 
The  desire  for  a  vital  democracy  is  at  once  in- 
telligent and  powerful,  but  the  means  to  se- 
cure it  must  be  something  more  than  material 
comfort.  Even  so  fine  a  race  as  the  citizenship 
of  Athens  could  not  survive  its  own  prosperity. 
f  Political  democracy  is  an  effort  to  secure  to 

332 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OF    TO-MORROW 

the  common  man  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  gov- 
ernment. Industrial  democracy  is  an  effort 
to  furnish  him  at  least  his  fair  share  of  the 
product  of  industry.  Vital  democracy  is  an 
effort  to  give  to  every  child  a  sound  body  and 
the  opportunity  for  successful  physical  devel- 
opment. All  of  these  forms  of  democracy,  in  so 
far  as  they  have  been  successful  in  the  world, 
have  succeeded  because  they  are  applications 
of  the  democracy  of  Jesus ;  and  the  limitations 
and  failures  of  them  occur  because  they  have 
rejected  His  basic  teaching,  which  is  ethical, 
and  have  failed  to  comprehend  His  final  form 
of  organization  which  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  failure  of  the  political  democracy  con- 
sists in  its  enormous  demand  for  intelligence 
and  virtue  among  the  common  people.  They 
are  cheated  by  cheap  party  cries,  they  are  won 
by  the  promises  of  immediate  benefits,  they  are 
the  prey  of  the  shrewd,  the  sagacious,  and  the 
selfish.  The  strong  men  make  the  laws,  and, 
when  they  do  not  make  them,  they  know  how 
to  evade  their  operation.  A  political  democ- 
racy is  no  doubt  the  finest  form  of  government 
that  the  world  has  yet  seen,  but  it  can  never 
be  satisfactory  until  the  men  living  under  it 
have  learned  the  practical  application  of  ethics 
to  life.     Political  democracy  was  so  great  a 

333 


DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  CHURCH 

gain  that  it  seems  a  pity  it  was  so  great  a  dis- 
appointment. 

Industrial  democracy  is  an  effort  to  seek  jus- 
tice and  in  some  form  or  other  deserves  the 
support  of  every  right-thinking  man.  But  the 
basic  view  of  industrial  democracy  is  that  vir- 
tue depends  upon  comfort.  Cure  the  economic 
ills,  and  all  the  other  evils  will  disappear.  If 
you  wish  men  to  behave  well,  feed  them  well. 
Now  all  history  proves  exactly  the  opposite. 
Men  rarely  steal  because  they  want  something 
to  eat.  They  steal  because  they  do  not  wish 
to  work.  Men  are  rarely  vicious  because  they 
have  too  little,  their  vices  grow  with  the  abun- 
dance of  their  possessions.  It  is  the  plain 
working  people  of  any  country  who  furnish 
the  reservoir  of  its  moral  life.  It  is  probable 
that  the  world  now  has  as  much  comfort  as  its 
moral  strength  will  support.  It  is  even  pos- 
sible that  many  of  the  evils  of  modern  society 
arise  from  the  possession  of  too  much  comfort. 

No  doubt  the  dream  of  a  perfect  race,  well 
born  and  well  reared,  is  a  necessary  part  of  any 
beautiful  program  of  the  future.  No  word 
must  be  said  to  dim  the  vision  or  weaken  the 
energy  of  those  faithful  men  and  women  who 
have  been  working  to  this  end.  It  is  well,  but  it 
is  not  adequate.    The  saints,  the  poets,  the  phi- 

334 


THE    DEMOCRACY    OP    TO-MORROW 

losophers,  the  prophets,  the  martyrs  cannot  be 
weighed  upon  scales,  and  measured  in  the  pro- 
portions of  Apollo.  Many  of  whom  the  world 
has  not  been  worthy  have  inherited  weakness 
of  the  flesh,  and  then  have  burned  that  out  with 
the  imperial  fires  of  a  too  eager  soul.  It  has 
not  been  discovered  that  the  Catilines,  the 
Aaron  Burrs,  the  Benedict  Arnolds,  and  the 
whole  rogues'  gallery  of  a  lesser  breed  have 
been  antisocial  in  proportion  as  they  have  been 
weighed  and  measured  and  found  wanting.  The 
fatal  weakness  of  the  new  teaching  called 
Eugenics  is  in  the  supposition  that  man  may 
be  bred  like  other  animals.  But  this  is  not  true. 
The  social  forces  that  control  him  are  more 
powerful  than  the  physical  organization  of  the 
individual.  Great  ideas  and  great  passions 
have  meant  more  to  men  than  a  great  physique. 
Man  is  a  good  deal  of  an  animal  and  something 
of  a  brute,  but  for  all  that  he  has  a  transcen- 
dental element.  He  has  the  citizenship  of  the 
universe  and  may  feel  within  him  the  quicken- 
ing of  the  God-like. 

It  all  comes  to  this:  the  world  so  far  as  we 
can  now  see  it  will  never  have  a  democracy 
worth  having  upon  any  other  terms  than  those 
of  Jesus.  He  did  not  teach  that  material  well- 
being  and  proper  economic  organization  were 

335 


DEMOCEACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

the  final  end  of  the  social  order.  He  did  teach 
that  "a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abun- 
dance of  the  things  which  he  possesseth,"  1  and 
bade  his  disciples  beware  of  covetousness.  A 
greedy  democracy  is  no  more  lovely  in  His  eyes 
than  the  brutality  of  Matthew  or  the  sensuality 
of  the  rich  young  man.  The  movement  for  a 
better  world  has  been  progressive.  The  ground 
has  been  fought  for  inch  by  inch  and  the  battle 
has  been  won  step  by  step.  The  noblest  men 
have  had  visions  of  a  redeemed  earth,  only  to 
die  broken-hearted  upon  defeated  battle-fields. 
Out  of  all  the  conflict  of  abhorrent  forces  it 
becomes  clearer  every  day  that  the  new  earth 
can  only  come  to  a  race  that  has  conquered 
animalism  and  has  risen  to  the  ranks  of  a 
brotherhood  founded  upon  love.  Mere  social, 
political  or  economic  conventions  are  like  trea- 
ties between  nations,  made  to  be  broken  as  soon 
as  some  other  arrangement  seems  more  profit- 
able. The  Kingdom  of  God  cannot  be  had  upon 
any  such  terms.  Jesus  came  proclaiming  a  new 
Kingdom  of  God  about  to  be  born,  but  his 
warning  hand  held  men  back  and  bade  them 
pause  upon  its  threshold;  for  entrance  to  this 
holy  place  was  only  for  those  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  with  fire.     The  Kingdom  of 

^uke  12:  15. 

336 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF   TO-MORROW 

God  was  something  too  noble  for  those  who 
were  ignoble.  John  had  well  said,  "His  fan  is 
in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his 
floor."1 

But  what  was  this  Kingdom  of  God,  the  cen- 
tral thought  of  His  good  tidings?  Was  it  after 
all  a  new  institution,  a  discovery  of  an  appli- 
cation of  fresh  laws  of  economics?  Men  were 
quickened  by  his  speech  and  were  eager  for  its 
early  fulfillment.  They  thought  it  was  some- 
thing to  stand  over  against  the  Eoman  empire 
and  to  restore  the  glory  of  the  throne  of 
David.  But  when  the  Pharisees  asked  when 
the  kingdom  of  God  should  come,  He  chilled  all 
earthly  ambition  with  this  statement:  "The 
Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation ; 
neither  shall  they  say,  lo !  here,  or  lo !  there. ' '  2 
But  there  was  also  the  warmth  of  an  inextin- 
guishable mystic  glow  in  the  further  saying, 
"Behold  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 
All  this  is  either  nonsense  or  it  is  the  deepest 
wisdom.  Does  He  mean  that  we  shall  not  seek 
to  better  earthly  conditions  or  to  improve  the 
current  forms  of  social  life  by  such  reforms  as 
may  be  possible?  By  no  means.  He  teaches 
that  the  outward  Kingdom  of  God  can  be  no 
fairer  and  no  surer  than  the  Kingdom  created 

1  Matt.  3 :  12.  a  Luke  17 :  20-21. 

23  337 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

in  the  social  mind,  the  social  conscience,  and 
the  social  will.  More  plainly  does  He  put  the 
doctrine  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  when 
He  declares  that  the  Gentiles  seek  after  food 
and  raiment  and  all  physical  good,  and  then  He 
commands,  ' '  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you."  The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
for  God-like  men,  and  for  no  others.  It  is  vain 
to  maim  the  strongest  so  that  their  selfishness 
shall  be  ineffectual,  if  thereby  we  enthrone  the 
weakest,  for  the  selfishness  of  the  latter  will  be 
ineffectual  even  with  crown  and  scepter.  It 
is  only  as  the  world  is  ruled  by  a  new  law  that 
these  problems  can  finally  be  solved. 

The  race  is  coming  into  its  new  society  be- 
cause more  and  more  it  is  learning  the  lesson  of 
Jesus.  Never  in  all  the  centuries  have  so  many 
men  and  women  as  now  been  ready  to  give  their 
lives  for  the  lives  of  others.  An  ever-increas- 
ing and  glorious  company  in  all  ranks  and  pro- 
fessions are  saying  to  the  hungry  world,  Eat 
of  my  body  and  drink  of  my  blood  for  I  give 
you  my  life.  With  the  widening  of  this  ever- 
lasting sacrament,  the  inner  kingdom  of  God 
will  be  answered  by  the  glory  of  the  outward 
kingdom  of  God,  covering  the  world  with  plenty, 
with  beauty,  and  with  peace.    The  doctrine  of 

338 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF   TO-MORROW 

Jesus  is  that  a  triumphant  democracy  must  be 
an  ethical  democracy.  From  this  final  judg- 
ment of  the  Son  of  Man  there  is  no  appeal. 

It  may  be  noted  that  some  very  wise  and  far- 
seeing  men  have  always  fought  against  democ- 
racy in  every  form.  Carlyle  was  wrong  in  his 
opposition  to  Chartism,  but  he  was  fundamen- 
tally right  in  the  philosophy  upon  which  he 
based  his  opposition.  There  can  be  no  just 
government  except  by  the  wise  and  the  good. 
The  government  of  the  strong  without  wisdom 
is  a  brute  tyranny,  but  the  government  of  the 
wise  without  goodness  refines  the  tyranny, 
while  it  makes  it  more  permanent  and  more  de- 
spoiling. The  world  waits  for  a  democracy 
wise  enough  to  rule  and  good  enough  to  be  self- 
forgetful.  When  the  democracy  of  Jesus  comes 
into  the  world  it  will  be  found  that  whosoever 
will  lose  his  life  shall  find  it.  The  world  is  so 
rich  in  all  material  possibilities,  the  mind  of 
man  is  so  cunning,  and  his  capacity  for  achieve- 
ments is  so  great,  that  in  that  happy  time  men 
will  have  to  search  with  a  lighted  candle  for 
opportunities  for  self-denial. 

We  have  seen  in  the  events  of  history  already 
examined  that  the  church,  because  she  has  car- 
ried in  her  bosom  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  has 
been  a  perpetual  witness  for  the  elevation  of 

339 


DEMOCRACY   AND    THE    CHURCH 

man.  She  has  worked  for  his  freedom,  even 
when  she  knew  it  not.  She  has  been  something 
very  human  as  well  as  very  divine.  Being 
human,  she  has  had  her  own  ambitions  which 
her  sons  have  often  put  above  every  other  man- 
ifest interest.  Being  composed  of  men  of  all 
classes,  the  sacred  cause  has  sometimes  fallen 
into  unholy  hands.  Yet  in  spite  of  every  limi- 
tation and  making  every  concession  for  obvious 
weakness  and  even  baseness,  it  is  plain  that  the 
political,  industrial,  and  vital  democracies  of 
the  world  have  found  in  the  church  their  great- 
est champion  as  they  have  found  in  Jesus  their 
loftiest  prophet. 

The  result  of  our  study  shows  that  the 
church  deserves  far  more  considerate  treat- 
ment from  the  hands  of  her  critics  than  she 
has  generally  received.  Her  work  has  not  been 
perfectly  done,  but  she  has  been  in  all  times 
the  world's  chief  est  witness  to  justice  between 
men,  as  well  as  to  human  brotherhood.  In 
Protestant  countries  it  is  sometimes  alleged 
that  the  churches  are  composed  of  the  wealthy, 
and  may  be  counted  upon  to  side  with  privi- 
lege. Nothing  is  further  from  the  truth.  Con- 
spicuous churches  here  and  there,  few  in  num- 
ber and  comparatively  small  in  membership, 
may  deserve  the  sneer  of  taking  the  form  of 

340 


THE   DEMOCRACY   OF    TO-MORROW 

the  rich  man's  club,  but  the  great  multitude  of 
the  churches  everywhere  are  fighting  zealously, 
if  not  always  wisely,  in  favor  of  every  good 
cause,  so  far  as  the  leaders  can  discover  the 
issues. 

It  is  true  that  church  people  as  a  class  are 
not  among  the  very  poor.  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  To  the  extent  that  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  practice  the  ethics  of  Jesus  they  come  to 
self-control  and  to  self-development.  Self-con- 
trol and  self-development  are  wealth-breeding. 
The  church  has  often  picked  a  grandfather  out 
of  the  gutter  and  made  the  man  of  the  third 
generation  a  gentleman.  That  is  no  reproach 
to  the  church. 

The  church  must  not  be  identified  with  the 
kingdom  of  God.  They  are  not  interchange- 
able terms.  The  kingdom  of  God  means  a  trans- 
figured human  society;  it  means  that  politics, 
business,  art,  education,  and  the  whole  range 
of  human  life  shall  be  governed  by  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus.  It  is  not  improbable  that  as  the 
Kingdom  of  God  progresses  the  functions  of 
the  church  as  an  institution  will  diminish.  We 
have  already  seen  many  of  the  former  duties 
of  the  church  taken  over  by  the  state. 

Other  social  organs  may  develop,  fulfilling 
social  service  in  a  way  that  may  perhaps  be 

341 


DEMOCRACY  AND   THE   CHURCH 

called  secular.  But  the  mission  of  the  church 
will  continue  so  long  as  the  world  lasts.  It  will 
not  be  so  much  institutional  as  inspirational. 
It  will  maintain  holy  altars.  It  will  organize 
noble  services  of  worship.  It  will  teach  rever- 
ence by  proclaiming  the  great  Presence.  It 
will  not  perform  all  the  functions  even  of  a  holy 
democracy,  but  it  will  furnish  men  the  mood 
of  democrats  by  showing  them  that  they  can- 
not love  God  unless  they  love  their  brother 
also.  Forms  of  words,  methods  of  ritual,  days 
and  architecture  may  change,  but  the  tran- 
scendent man  needs  to  nourish  his  soul  on  food 
that  is  not  bread  alone,  and  not  less  but  more 
in  the  days  to  come  will  men  see  that  worship 
with  all  that  it  implies  is  the  cure  for  earth's 
sin  and  sorrow,  and  that  the  church,  ever  re- 
newing herself  by  fresh  incarnations  of  the 
spirit  of  her  Founder,  remains  the  Mother  of 
Human  Greatness. 


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343 


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Davidson,  T.     A  History  of  Education. 

Delarc.     Saint  Gregoire  et  la  Reforme  de  l'eglise. 

Draper,  J.  W.     The  Conflict  Between  Science  and 

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Farrar,  F.  W.     The  Witness  of  History  to  Christ. 
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et  dans  l'arts  primitifs  italiens. 
Gore,  C.     The  Mission  of  the  Church. 
Green.     History  of  the  English  People. 
Grote.     History  of  Greece. 
Gumplowicz.     Geschichte  der  Staatstheorien. 
Hare.     Vindication  of  Luther. 
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Haiisser.     The  Period  of  the  Reformation. 
Hazlitt,  Wm.     The  Table  Talk  of  Martin  Luther. 
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Koestlin,  Julius.     Life  of  Luther. 

Lang,  John  Marshall.     Expansion  of  the  Church. 

Law,    Henry.     The    Reformation;    Its    Heroes    and 
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Lecky.     Democracy  in  Europe. 
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Luthardt.     History  of  Christian  Ethics. 

MacDonell,  A.     Sons  of  Francis. 

Mackenzie,  Lord.     Studies  of  Roman  Law. 

Matthews,  S.     Select  Medieval  Documents. 

Mazzini,  J.     Essays. 

McGiffert.     Martin  Luther,  the  Man  and  His  Work. 

Milton,  John.     Eikonoklastes.  Tenure  of  Kings  and 
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Mozley,  J.  B.     Essays. 

Muirhead.     Roman  Law. 

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Pater,  Walter.     Plato  <and  Platonism. 

Plato.     The  Republic. 

Ranke.     The  History  of  the  Popes. 

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Rogers,  Thorold.     Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages. 

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346 


INDEX 


Abelard,  255 

Act,  of  supremacy,  255 
of  six  articles,  227 

Alaric,  59 

"Albertus  Magnus,"  261 

Albigenses,  110 

Alcuin,  250,  253,  261 

Alexander  VI,  180 

Alton  Locke,  296 

Anabaptists,  211,  215 

Angelo,  Michael,  171 

Anselm  and  Bernard  influ- 
enced by  Plato,  255 

Arbitration    in    early    com- 
munities, 45 

Archaeology,  267 
results  of,  277 

Aristocracy  of  mind,  270 

Aristotle,  7,  32,  173 

Arius,  43 

Articles  of  religion,  228 

Athanasius,  43 

Athens,  political  control  of, 
12 

Augsburg,     confession     of, 
203 

Augustine,  50 

Augustine,  age  of,  15 

Avignon,  100 


"Babylonian  captivity,"  224 

Bacon,  Roger,  261 

Barbarossa,  Frederick,  89 

Beauty  associated  with  wor- 
ship, 244 

Becket,  Thomas  a,  89,  90 

Beecher,  Lyman,  294 

Benedict  IX,  80,  82 

Benozzi,  St.  Francis  and  St. 
Dominic     painted     by, 
-   129 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  107 

Bishop  of  Rome,  position 
of,  63 

Black  Death,  the,  142 
influence  of,  167 

Bonaventura,  114,  115 

Boniface  VIII,  bull  of,  94 

Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
228 

Borgia,  Cassar,  180 

Boxer  massacre,  282 

Bradford,  William,  235 

Brewster,  William,  235 

Bright,  John,  299 

Brotherhood,  church  the 
world's  chief  witness  to, 
340 

Brunetiere,  7 


347 


INDEX 


Cairo,  University  of,  253, 
254 

Calvin,  the  theologian  of  the 
Reformation,   212 
youth  of,  213 

Calvinism,  influence  of,  213 

Canossa,  87 

Cardinals,  pope  elected  by, 
64 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  7,  257, 
296,  304,  339 

Catherine  of  Siena,  2 

Charity  work  largely  car- 
ried on  by  Church,  287 

Charlemagne,  73,  74,  250, 
261 

Charles  I,  229 

Charles  V  of  Spain,  185 

Chaucer  represented  the  new 
movement  in  literature, 
171 

Chillingworth,  William,  238 

Christian  religion,  signifi- 
cant thing  about  the, 
34 

Christian  year  essentially 
dramatic,  150 

Christianity,     Greek     influ- 
ence on,  36 
impulse  of,  3 
social  influence  of,  56 
social  spirit  of,  302 
spread  of,  280 
success    of,    as    given    by 
Gibbon,  37 


Christianity,     the     greatest 
force     the    world     has 
known,  3 
Church,  a  divine  institution, 
48 
and  critics,  264 
and    state,    conflicts    be- 
tween, 64 
became  rich,  77 
democratic       organization 

of  the,  47 
doctrine  of  unity  of  the, 

67 
laid  foundations  for  com- 
mon social  life,  50 
not  to  be  identified  with 

kingdom  of  God,  341 
relation  of,  to  literature, 

150 
the  ruler  of  the  world,  96 
to  continue,  342. 
Cistercian  monks,  107 
City,  communism  of,  284 

problem  of,  273 
"City  of  God,"  60,  62 
Clara  of  Sciffi,  123 
Clement  II,  83 
Clement  V,  100 
Clergy,  moral  condition  of, 

110 
Clermont,  Urban  II  at,  91 
Cluny,  monastery  of,  79 
Columbus  influenced  by  Ba- 
con, 261 


348 


INDEX 


Columbus,    library    at    Se- 
ville and,  266 
Common    people   moved   by 
new  social  teaching,  155 
Conflict  between   monk  and 

friar,  138 
Confucius,  3 

Constance,  Council  of,  162 
Constantine,  baptism  of,  41 
conversion  of,  39 
"donation"  of,  72 
patronage  of,  47 
Cooperation,  323-4 
Copernicus,      influence     of, 

169 
Creeds    prophetic    of    final 
unitary    system     of 
thought,  69 
Cromwell,  230 
and  the  Jews,  232 
the    apostle    of    religious 
liberty,  230 
Crusades,  effect  of,  upon  in- 
ternal  life   of   Europe, 
93 
forces  behind  the,  91 
inevitable,  92 
Culture,  relation  of  Church 
to,  270 

Dante,  closed  old  world,  171 
Darwin,  Charles,  262-3 
Declaration  of  Rights,  233 
"Defender    of    the    Faith," 
224 


Democracy      and      religion 
identical     under     St. 
Francis,  127 
born    in    the    Mayflower, 

236 
clamor  for  more,  315 
evolution  of,  285 
first  great  charter  of,  22 
ideals  of,  7,  8 
industrial,  316 
meaning  of  word,  310 
of  Jesus,  336 
"Democracy  of  souls,"  270 
Descartes,     philosophy     of, 

101 
Deuteronomy,  the  great  law 

book  of  democracy,  17 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans 

in  England,  138 
Doubt     always     destructive, 

289 
Dunstan,  79 
Dutch  in  New  York,  240 

Eastern  church,  50 
Ebionites,  36 
Education,  spread  of,  173 
Edward    III    of    England, 

140-1 
Erasmus,  173,  223 
Eugenics,  328,  335 

Factory  act,  300 
Faith   and  culture  of  a  so- 
cial group,  244 


349 


INDEX 


Farrel,  William,  214 
Feudalism,  a  new,  318 
Foreign  missions,  early 

church  believed  in,  49 
Forms  of  the  new  life,  172 
Franciscans  a  great  ecclesi- 
astical   and    social    or- 
ganization, 134 
Free    schools    the    hope    of 

democracy,  258 
Friar's    work    physical    as 

well  as  moral,  138 
"Friends  of  God,"  166 

Gautama,  2 

General  Assembly,  the  first, 
230 

Geneva,  church  and  state  of, 
217 
Reformation  in,  214 

Ghibellines,  97 

Gibbon,  37,  38 

Gnostics,  36,  253 

Goal  of  race  not  reached, 
234 

Government  must  become 
complex  for  a  state  to 
have  power,  311 

Great  deeds  done  uncon- 
sciously, 192 

Greek  and  Hebrew  influ- 
ence, 35 

Greek  influence  on  Chris- 
tianity, 36 


Greek  spirit  in  the  church, 
43 

Gregory  the  Great,  71 

Gregory  VI,  82 

Gregory  VII,  88 

Grote,  13 

Guelfs,  97 

Guilds  earliest  form  of  mo- 
nopoly, 139 

Harnack,  Dr.  Adolph,  268 
Harvard  University,  257 
Hegel,  8 

Henry  II  of  England,  90 
Henry  III,  82 
Henry  IV,  87 
Henry  VIII,  223-27 
Heresy,  and  treason  identi- 
fied, 111 

as  a  crime,  46 
Hildebrand,   2,   80,   83,   85, 

100 
Historical    movements    diffi- 
cult to  appraise,  92 
History,  a  continuous  proc- 
ess, 170 

essential  things  of,  31 

makers  of,  2 

range  of,  5 

religion  the  most  efficient 
factor  in,  2 

value  of,  5 
Holland,  influence  of,  235 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  185 
Horace,  teaching  of,  142 


350 


INDEX 


Hours  of  labor  reduced,  321 

Howard,  John,  295 

Human     life,     increase     in 
average  of,  332 
movement     for    improve- 
ment of,  331 

Human  wants  multiplied  by 
manufactures  and  com- 
merce, 186 

Humanism  a  fresh  view  of 
life,  172 

Huss,  John,  162 

Huxley,  Thomas,  262 

Hypatia,  57 

Ideas,  battle  of,  260 
Indulgences,  sale  of,  191 
Industrial  democracy,  argu- 
ment against,  326 
effort  of,  319 
weakness  of,  327 
Industry  changed   with   ad- 
vent   of    the    machine, 
318 
Innocent  III,  95 

power   of   papacy   culmi- 
nated under,  94 
Inquisition,  the,  111 
Ireland,  250 


Jesus,  essence  of  teachings 
of,  55 
furnished  idea  of  ethical 

democracy,  31 
the  essential  democrat,  30 
the     maker     of     modern 

world,  6 
the      successor     of      the 

prophets,  17,  18 
view  of,  of  man,  29 
work  of,  positive,  24 
Joan  of  Arc,  2 
John  XII,  75,  78 
Julian  the  Apostate,  45 
Julius  II,  181 
Justinian,  53,  311,  317 
institutes  of,  54 

Kappel,  battle  of,  210 

peace  of,  210 
King  John,  95-9 
Kingsley,  Charles,  57,  296-7 
Knox,  John,  217 

and  Queen  Mary,  221 

at  St.  Andrews,  219 

at  St.  Giles,  221 

the  authentic   Scotchman, 
219 

the  real  king  of  Scotland, 
220 


James  I,  228,  234 
James  II,  232 

Jerome,  Bible  translated  by, 
51 


Labor,  organized,  322 
Labor  unions,  value  of,  322 
Langton,   Stephen,   95 
Latin  language,  16 


351 


INDEX 


Learning,  revival  of,  254  Luther,   message  of,  to  the 


spread  by  the  Church,  256 
Leo  IX,  83 
Leo  X,  182 
"Liberty    of    prophesying," 

239 
Licinius,  40 
Life,  duties  of,  20 
genetic  view  of,  265 
of  history  deeper  than  ex- 
ternal     manifestations, 
108 
of    seclusion    appeals    to 
certain   element  in  hu- 
man nature,  104 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  295 
Livingstone,  David,  281 
Lollards,  the,  160-1 
Lombards,  the,  71 
Loyola,  107,  205,  280 
Luther,   a   complex   nature, 
176 
a  religious  genius,  166 
and  Elijah,  177 
and  Erasmus,  224 
attacks     the     sacraments, 

196 
before  the  Diet  of  Worms, 

197 
better    than    his    actions, 

177 
childhood  of,  188 
hymn  of,  178 
influenced  by  mystics,  167 
marriage  of,  202 


world,  197 

one  of  the  great  leaders 
of  history,  165 

ordained  priest,  189 

task  of,  not  represented 
by  Lutheran  church, 
203 

the  chief  hero  of  the  Ger- 
man nation,  165 

the  forerunner  of  Pesta- 
lozzi  and  Froebel,  256 

the  supreme  prophet  of 
the  new  dispensation, 
204 

three  great  pamphlets  of, 
195 

too  elemental  to  be  con- 
sistent, 178 

work  of,  greater  than  his 
doctrines,  178 

impossible  but  for  politi- 
cal and  economic  con- 
ditions, 180 

Macaulay,  Lord,  309 
"Mad  Priest,  the,"  154 
Madonna,  worship  of,  58 
Magna  Charta,  95 

a  permanent  limitation  on 

power  of  throne,  98 
annulled   by   Pope   Inno- 
cent, 99 
impossible     without     the 
church,  96 


352 


INDEX 


Magna   Charta,   one  of  the 

foundations  of  English 

constitution,  99 
Malthus,  316 
Man  in   the  market   place, 

story  of,  27 
Man  of  Galilee,  teaching  of, 

26 
Manning,  Cardinal,  267 
Manumission    of    slaves 

taught  as  religious 

duty,  56 
Martineau,  James,  9 
Maternity,  question  of,  330 
Maurice,  F.  D.,  297 
Mayflower,  the,  236 
Mazzini,  303 

creed  of,  305 
Medici,  Lorenzo  de',  171 
Melanchthon,  202,  203 
Men  never  live  above  their 

creeds,  307 
Mendicant  orders,  the,  110 
Methodism,  292 
Milton,  John,  232 
Missionary    operations, 

knowledge  enlarged  by, 

281 
Missions,     by-products     of, 

108 
Mohammed,  faith  of,  254 
Monasteries,    economic    suc- 
cess of,  108 
Monastery  began  in  Egypt, 

104 


Monastic  life,  oriental,   104 
orders  became  interna- 
tional in  character,  108 

Monasticism,  expla- 
nation of,  103 
the  triumph  of  individual- 
ism, 104 

Monopoly,  guilds  earliest 
form  of,  139 

Morality  and  religion,  rela- 
tion of,  19 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  309 

"Morning  Star  of  the  Ref- 
ormation," 158 

Moslem  learning,  influence 
of,  252 

Movement  for  better  world 
progress,  336 

Mysticism  the  final  strong- 
hold of  defeated  saints, 
101 

Nature  of  early  Christian 
societies,  35 

New  England  ideas  domi- 
nate whole  republic,  241 

New  freedom  covered  whole 
of  life,  174 

New  life,  promise  of,  302 

Nicsea,  Council  of,  43,  68 

Nicene  creed,  39 

Nineteenth  century  the  great 
epoch  in  history,  292 

Ninety-five  theses,  192 


24 


353 


INDEX 


Nobleman,  parable  of  the, 
28 

Old  Testament  the  great 
text  book  of  western 
nations,  51 

Otto  the  Great,  75 

Oxford  the  natural  home  of 
WyclifiVs  doctrines,  161 

Papacy,  degradation  of,  80 

duties  of,  66 
Parenthood,  fitness  for,  329 
Paris,  University  of,  251 
Paul,  34,  76 

fills  the  canvas  of  apos- 
tolic history,  118 

teaching  of,  23-5 
Peace  movement  essentially 

Christian,  282 
Penance,  order  of,  125 
"People's  priest,  the,"  207 
Peter  the  Hermit,  91 
Philanthropy,  Christian,  318 
Philip  the  Fair,  99 
Phillips,  Wendell,  294 
Piers  Ploughman,  vision  of, 

151 
Pilgrims,  the,  235 
Pippin,  72 
Pius  IX,  305 
Pius  X,  65 
Plague,  effects  of,  142 
Plato,  8,  313,  331 

compared  with  Jesus,  13 


Plato,  ideal  of  society  of,  9 
political  doctrine,  11 
"Republic"  of,  9 
Political  and  economic  ques- 
tions no  longer  local  is- 
sues, 283 
Political  democracy,  333 
a  slow  process,  314 
failure  of,  333 
"Poor  ladies,"  124 
Production,  means  of,  325 
Protestant  League,  210 
Puritanism  a  protest  against 
social  sins,  110 


Race,  early  history  of,  1 
not  made  by  physical  de- 
scent, 234 
solidarity  of,  29 
Rampolla,  Cardinal,  64 
Reformation,    a   reorganiza- 
tion of  human  society, 
199 
influence     of,     upon    the 
Roman  church,  205 
Relation  of  Christianity  and 

culture,  246 
Religion,    adapts    itself    to 
new  conditions,  103 
the   most   efficient   of   all 
factors  in  history,   2 
Renaissance,  the,  170 
"Republic  of  letters,"  258 


354 


INDEX 


Revivals,  not  religious  alone, 

113 
of  religion  not  confined  to 

modern  times,  112 
Robinson,  John,  235 
Roman    Catholic    Church 

loses    an     opportunity, 

306 
Roman  Empire,  the,  70 
Roman  home,  ideal  of,  275 
Romans,  virtues  of,  15 
Rome,  bishop  of,  42 
Rome,   deserted  by   papacy 

for  two  generations,  100 
the  first  world  city,  32 
Runnymede,  95 

Sabbath,  change  of,  52 

for  all  men,  52 
Sachs,  Hans,  178 
Saint  Anthony,  104 
Saint  Benedict,  105 

rules  of  the  order  of,  105 
Saint    Dominic,    order    of, 

107 
Saint  Francis  d'Assisi,  100, 
113,  116 

and  divine  guidance,  119 

dream  of,  117 

legends  of,  128 

knowledge     of,    intuitive, 
130 
Saint  Louis,  2 
Sainthood  the  greatest  thing 


Samson,  Bernard,  208 
Savonarola,  171 
Schappler,  201 
Scholarship,    democracy    of, 

258 
Scotland,  218 

civil  authority  in,  219 
Scrooby,  church  at,  225 
Selection,  principle  of,  25 
Sense    of    a    world    order 

growing,  75 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  338 
Servetus,  Michael,  216 
Seventy  years  of  captivity, 

100 
Shaftesbury,     seventh     earl 

of,  299 
Social    bond,    need   and 

strength  of,  245 
Social  forces  represented  by 

Luther    still    at    work, 

179 
Social  group,  faith  and  cul- 
ture of,  244 
Social  hysteria,  112 
Social  obligation,  new  sense 

of,  286 
Social     service      essentially 

Christian,  288 
Social  spirit  of  Christianity, 

302 
Social  sympathy,  new  form 

of,  278 
Social  uplift,  source  of,  307 
Socialism,  327 


355 


INDEX 


Socialism  as  a  form  of  in- 
dustrial democracy,  325 
Christian,  297 
strength  of,  326 

Society  of  Jesus,  280 
regeneration  of,  4 

Socrates,  248 , 
influence  of,  3 

Spencer,  Herbert,  102,  262 

Spoleto,  valley  of,  122 

Stanley,  Henry  M.,  281 

State  and  church,  two  sides 
of  same  shield,  48 

Statute  of  laborers,  147 

Stephen,  72 

Stoic  philosophy,  16 

a  gospel   of   life  for  the 
strong,  16 

Struggle  between  monas- 
tery and  town  largely 
economic,  136 

Struggle  for  existence,  313 

Struggle  of  institutions  part 
of  the  fabric  of  his- 
tory, 260 

Success  of  early  church  not 
wholly  among  the  poor, 
36 

Suicide  encouraged  by  Ro- 
man philosophy,  57 

Sylvester  III,  82 

Tauler,  John,  177 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  239 
Telemachus,  54,  56 


"Ten  hours'  bill,"  300 
Theology,  a  science,  267 

history  of,  69 

never  final,  268 

origin  of,  253 
Thibet,  monasteries  of,  104 
Tertullian,  36 
Toleration,  edict  of,  40 
Torquemada,  111 
Trade  unions,  140,  319 

fraternities     of     journey- 
men     forerunners      of, 
140 
Trent,  Council  of,  206 

Unity  of  church,  68 
Universities,  rise  of,  251 
Urban  II  at  Clermont,  91 
Utopia,  309 

Vatican  a  patron  of  the  new 

learning,  174 
Vatican  council,  306 
Vital  democracy,  328,  333 

Wages  must   correspond  to 

cost  of  living,  144 
Waldenses,  the,  110 
Wartburg,  Luther  at,  198 
Wesley,  social  gospel  of,  292 
Westminster  assembly,  229 
Wilberforce,  William,  293 
William  and  Mary,  233 
Wittenberg,  Luther  at,  190 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  223 


356 


INDEX 


World,     has     renewed     its 
youth,  276 
responds  to  a  spiritual  re- 
ality, 119 
World  spirit  of  to-day,  282 
Wyeliffe,  John,  158 
a  great  author,  159 
the   founder   of   the   doc- 
trine    of     a     national 
church,  159 


WyclifiVs    doctrines   spread 
to  Bohemia,  162 

Young  Europe,  304 
Young  Italy,  303 

Zurich,  Council  of,  209 
Zwingli,  Ulrich,  207 
a  political  reformer,  211 


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